Fable 2: Anthony's Adventure
by KotoriRod
Summary: Anthony is bummed out that Christmas break is over but his friends suggest him to play a video game that came out. He litterally gets sucked in the game and is thrown through a world of trouble. Full Summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

_**Summary: Anthony is a bit sad that school had begun again since Christmas break has ended. His hopes get pulled up when his friends encourage him to play a game that they have just been starting to talk about, Fable 2. Little did he know that he was going to get more than he bargains for as he gets pulled into the game, right after finishing the Hero's childhood part. Now thrown into a world where cell phones and game console don't exist, he must find a way back home while meeting familiar faces that don't recognize his own.**_

**Note: Anthony isn't going to be become Sparrow. He's just going to be a person who tags along the main character.**

**Chapter 1  
You Got to Play this Game!**

It was finally lunch period for the students at Nogales High School. Everyone quickly hurried for the activity of the week, which was watching the Filipino boys dancing to techno and rap music. The few lucky teenagers with video cameras were able to get the fancy twists and back flips that they did as Anthony sat on top of a vending machine shed. He didn't have the best view due to the fact the people were almost making the circle even smaller for the dancers.

He was wearing a black beanie on his had that was striped with gray and a black sweater hoodie with no logo. He wore dark blue baggy pants that nearly covered his black Vans shoes.

After assuring himself that nothing really good was going to happen, he jumped off the shed and quickly headed toward where his group of friends had always hung out during this time of the day. He had to pass by some curious freshman that nearly knocked him aside just to try to push into the crowd.

He muttered a curse word before reaching his destination, seeing his group of friends doing something stupid in front of a camera, as usual. He saw Steve and James messing around with Squirrel while Francy and Lisa watched as the Mexican girl held the camera on them, both laughing their butts off.

"Guys, quit it!" Marcos demanded, but he was laughing as his friends were acting a bit gayish for no apparent reason. The rest of the group were either watching as well or chatting on about whatever rolls with their interests. Ryan was the first to notice Anthony walking toward them as he announced aloud, "Hey guys, Anthony's here!" He saw the camera lens focus on him and felt it zoom out, as he got closer to the group. Only a few people actually greeted him as everyone else were busy chatting and making hand gestures to emphasize their stories. He went toward the small group that had the camera as he said, "You know, your brethren are dancing up on the stage, Lisa. Maybe you should record them."

Lisa just sighed and stated, "I always see them practicing all those moves in front of that Chinese restaurant across the street." Anthony just laughed as he then noticed that the camera was still on his face. Slightly irritated, he slowly pushed it to face Alvaro and Steve who were now punching each other's arms as Marcos comes out of nowhere and tackles the two down. As they laughed at their antics, Alvaro suddenly stood up and said, "Aw, Lisa! Weren't you gonna tell Anthony about the game?"

The pale skinned teenage male turned to Lisa whose eyes widened with delight. She quickly turned to him as she shouted, "Dude, you've got to play Fable 2! It's a fuckin' awesome game!" He just looked at her like she was weird as Ryan then explained in a calm tone.

"You haven't heard of the game, Fable 2, Anthony?" The blond nodded his head to confirm as Ryan continued. "It's like a continuation of the first Fable, the one for the regular Xbox."

"That RPG game that came out during the fall? What about it?" Anthony said as if he didn't seem to be that much interest as then Alvaro and Lisa got up in his space and shouted many things. Lisa was the first to speak as Alvaro followed after she said her bit.

"Dude, you get a dog that is so cute!"

"And you get to start a family!"

"You get to fight bandits and do awesome quests!"

"You can kill the villagers and steal money!"

"It has a short but an awesome storyline!"

"You can fuck up the guards!"

They then took a quick breath as they said together, "And best of all, you can get to chose either to be..."

"Good..." Lisa said as she stood away from him, acting as if a halo was over her head.

"Or evil..." Alvaro said in a demonic tone as he held his hand out like how your character would be like if you chose the Closed Fist Path in the game, Jade Empire. He wasn't sure if they were just joking with the poses until Ryan bluntly said, "Overall, in the game, you get a lot of choices and it literally affects the world around you."

"Yeah, if you like super good, you get a halo over your head and your dog is like a golden colored Labrador," Lisa stated with a happy tone.

"But if you are super evil, your head is decked out with demon horns and your dog becomes a black colored animal," Alvaro said in a more evil tone, which made Francy slap his arm. She turned off the camera as she said, "I really don't get what these guys are saying, but the way these guys are talking about it, maybe you should play it."

"Dude, you got me at the part where you get to make choices and I really don't care if it fucks up the whole world, I'm going to play that game!" Anthony declared as he got cheers from his friends.

-+-+-+-

After begging his mom when he got home, he finally was able to go to Game Stop and buy the game. He didn't waste time when his mom drove up the driveway as he got out of the vehicle and ran to his room.

He connected his Xbox 360 to his television set and placed the CD in the console. After watching the logo of the console play, it showed the companies' name that had created it and then showed the title screen. He selected "New Game" as it showed pictures of a young boy and a young girl.

Thinking about how all RPG past games were created, mostly the good stuff happens when you play as a chick so he chose the female. He watched the screen fade and saw the intro, cracking up slightly at the end as he saw a slow motion clip of bird poop falling. He then let out a disgusted groan when he saw that it landed on the girl's head.

As he played through the intro that taught all the controls, he then soon got to the part where he learns about a music box that would grant one wish. He then had to collect five gold coins to purchase it. As he followed the storyline carefully, he then remembered something Lisa desperately kept on reminding him several times.

"_You have to be good in the beginning or you fucked the whole town!"_

Quickly replaying that memory of her shaking him back and forth until he promised, he decided to do as he told, not wanting to know what the consequences would be if he had decided to do the opposite. As he searched for the warrants that the guard named Derek had needed, he had to have his photo taken and then saved a dog.

He then also had to find a drink bottle to give to the lady and kill some beetles in a warehouse. He was also a bit surprised when he saw that the dog he had saved earlier had helped them find one of the warrants.

The game continued as he gave the warrants to the guard and helped two lovers run away. With the five gold coins, he bought the music box and continued the storyline. He seemed to into the game that he didn't notice that the house seemed oddly quiet nor did he hear the quiet footsteps heading for his room.

As he sent the character to sleep, he jumped in surprise as the door to his room was smashed down, letting in a really buff man clad in black clothing and a pistol in his hand. Anthony glanced around as he then threw his controller at the man. The intruder deflected easily as he stalked toward the teen, aiming to grab him.

"No way you're going to rape me, rape ninja!" Anthony stated as he quickly jumped on his bed and avoiding the grip, running out of his room. Once he entered the hallway, he turned to his left to see that there were more of them and headed for the front door.

He opened the door and was about to step outside when he noticed there was no floor or anything where there should be pavement and grass. The area surrounding his home was just a swirling black and violet color like what you would see in the Shadow Realm from the Yu-Gi-Oh series. He turned to go back inside but saw the black clad men trying to push away from each as they were having a hard time maneuvering through the small hallway.

Realizing that he had only one way out, he prayed to whatever Almighty power was up there and readied to jump. As he moved his legs, he hesitated as he had second thoughts to it. He took a few steps back as he tried to think of another way out when he heard a loud thud behind him.

Not wanting to know if they finally got out or they had all fallen forward due to their obvious fact that they're huge, he ran back to the door and jumped. He immediately started plummeting downward through the dark abyss, feeling cold air blowing against him as his hand went to his head, keeping his beanie from flying away. As he continued falling, fear soon disappeared as he then laid back as well as he could, looking back up to see that his house had already faded into the distance from falling. "Wow, I can't believe this is how I'm going to die," he stated as he just had no emotion to his face. "I'm going to just keep on falling until I die of boredom."

He then noticed that whatever was behind him was becoming brighter as the dark abyss just seemed too hard to see clearly anymore. Turning around and holding his beanie to his head, he saw that before him was some kind of bright glass that concealed something behind it with a really bright light. He covered his face as he then cursed and said, "I screw this! If I'm going to die, no way in hell am I going to die because I fell on glass!"

It sounded really ridiculous as it swished through his head as he brought his right hand back, letting the light blind him as he aimed to punch the glass. As his hand connected with the glass, it suddenly rippled as his body felt everything slow down around him. The light behind the so-called glass disappeared, as did the clear wall, which had disappeared, causing him to fall into a large pool of water. His body was drenched as he then soon felt that he couldn't breathe. He started to jerk around, trying to find the surface. Just as he was about to lose his breathe, a gloved hand came from out of nowhere and jerked him out of the water.

He coughed up whatever liquid had gotten into his mouth as he then turned around to his friend, Francesca. Her hair was the same style in which it was a boyish hairstyle that was combed to one side so it was obviously her, I mean, how many females are out there with that kind of hairstyle? "Thanks, Francy. I owe you one." he thanked her as he sat up, wiping the water from his chin. He had his eyes closed as he heard just quiet, feeling as if he was still in school.

The girl stood up and looked down at him before saying in a questionable tone, "That's really nice of you, but who is Francy?"

Looking back at the girl, he soon realizes that the girl was indeed Francy, but she wore a black cape with a hoodie that went down to her waist. It was tied around her neck and held together by a circular seal that seemed familiar. She also had a red vest with short sleeves over a black sports bra. She wore pair of red shorts that had a rather large belt hanging around her waist and a pair of short boots. A pair of dark brown gloves covered her hands. He noticed that the girl wasn't wearing her glasses, revealing brown eyes.

"But… you're Francy," Anthony said again as the girl then looked irritated at him. She folded her arms over her chest as she then stated, "The name is Sparrow, and by the way you are dressed, you aren't from here."

She poked at his sweater hoodie as she muttered, "Such awkward clothing."

He gently pushed her hand away as he stood up to see his surroundings. There was a large lake with a small island in the middle of it. A grassy plain with some high cliffs surrounded the lake. He heard in the distance a waterfall and saw a bridge connected the lands that were separated by the small stream. He also heard some music in the background, reminding him of music from the Hunchback of Notre Dam.

"Where's am I?" he asked as his headed suddenly became blurry, nausea taking over for a few seconds. Sparrow was ready to catch him with her arms out as she replied, "You're at Bower Lake."

"Say what? There's no lake in West Covina," he stated with a confused tone. He then notices the same confusion on her face as she said, "I have never heard of this country of West Covina. You are in Albion."

**To Be Continued**

**Lisa: Okay! First chapter of Fable 2 fan fiction is done! Woo hoo!**

**Francy: Heh, he's fucked since he doesn't know the storyline and what the fuck to do.**

**Lisa: I hope he follows the path of good.**

**Alvaro: Five bucks says he'll do bad shit or just get into a lot of trouble.**

**Francy: I'll take that bet!**

**Lisa: Anyways, please review! We will update when we can since we are juggling three other stories!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2  
Bandit Blockade, Meeting Theresa, & Diving Sucks**

Anthony frantically looked for a video camera or his other friends hiding behind the broken arches or the cliffs above. Sparrow followed him, intrigued by how the man kept on babbling on such things that don't even exist in this realm. As he knelt up after checking under a bush, he then said in a surprised voice, "I'm really in the game."

"What game?" she asked with a curious tone. Anthony realized what he said as he then quickly said, "I mean, I'm just... not around here. I'm from... o-out of town." He placed his hands in his sweater hoodie jacket, nodded his head to prove that it was true.

"Dude, this is like those fan fictions I used to read back when my computer was still working," he thought as he then acted as if he was looking around. "But... how the hell am I supposed to help her if I don't know what the fuck's going on? I'm not McChris and his ranting about Kingdom Hearts."

A thought snapped his head as he then remembered that Lisa mentioned something about the main character getting a dog. "Hey, you got a dog?" he asked, needing to quickly ask the question without knowing that she has one. Sparrow nodded her head as she then whistled and called, "Doogal!"

Anthony kept himself from laughing at the name for such a heroic dog as he waited to see the dog that Lisa explained as to be a short haired German Shepard. As he waited, he then noticed something black coming toward them in a quick haste.

It looked like a really dirty mop without the stick as it hopped up and down. It reminded him of the stool-like dog from Beauty and the Beast.

**Marielle: So many fuckin' references to games, movies, and comedians! When will it ever end?**

The mop-like creature then stopped to look up at Anthony, if it had any eyes at all. He then noticed a triangular-shape poking through the strands of many hairs as it then barked, causing Anthony to yelp in surprise. He then pointed down at the thing and looked at Sparrow with disbelief. "This is your dog?"

The girl just smiled as she knelt down and petted the thing, seeing a small tail in the back of it wagging happily. "His name's Doogal. I found him years back when I was kid and my sister and I saved him. Isn't he cute?"

Anthony just stared at the dog, not believing at the sight. He was sure that his friends were serious about the dog being some heroic looking dog, not a living mop without a stick. As the thought swam around his head, he let out a small chuckle, covering his mouth so the rest of the laughter wouldn't come out violently. "I can't believe I had such high hopes for this moment," he thought as he then turned back to look at Sparrow calmly.

"So, what are you doing out here, Francy?" he asked.

"The name is Sparrow, for the last time," the girl stated angrily, becoming a bit peeved that the boy was calling a name she wasn't familiar with nor anyone had referred to her as that before him. "I'm out here because I have to head to Bowerstone, and from the looks of things, you could use someone who at least knows about the world than you."

"Ha ha, very funny," Anthony stated as the girl stood up, showing the teasing look in her eyes. "Even though you aren't Francy, you sure act like her. Wish you would learn to shut up..."

"Believe it or not, you're the only one so far I've talk this much to," she confessed. "I guess it's because you are just so annoying that someone else's voice has to speak up before you say something stupid."

Anthony just glared at her as he then felt that she acted a bit differently than his friend would. "Once again, very funny. Now just lead the way before I take that stupid sword from your back and cut out that mouth of yours."

Sparrow just stuck her tongue out as she led the way, her little dog following her as its furry dragged against the dirt. If Anthony ever got lost in this, he could always leave the dirt trail the dog was leaving. It took a couple of minutes until they reached road, seeing a rather large roadblock in the way.

"What the fuck?" he muttered as they continued walking. They looked up to see a guard standing on top of the blockade as he shouted, "Sorry, citizens. Road's closed."

"Can't you just let us go over the thing?" Anthony said. "I mean, I am with this chick who's packed."

Not getting his meaning, the guard said, "It really doesn't matter how many days of food supplies you have or if you are an important trader, I can't let you pass. Bandits have been attacking on this road, being lead by their leader named Thag."

"Isn't that convenient?" he muttered as Sparrow just shook her head at his "enthusiasm".

"If you two are in such a hurry, you can go fix the problem yourself," the guard said as he pointed the direction where he thinks the bandits are camping.

"And maybe we will!" Anthony shouted as he headed toward that direction. Sparrow watched as he walked with an angry stride a little far off until he suddenly disappeared downward. She and her dog quickly ran over to the small ledge where a few feet down, Anthony was sitting on a bush with a very displeased look.

"A little help would be nice right about now," Anthony said as he saw Sparrow shake her head. She jumped down with ease as the dog then jumped on to his head, blinding him with its furry body. He wasn't affected by it at first until he blew out whatever hairs got into his mouth. He then saw a hand in front of him through the hairs as he took it, feeling himself pulled up and standing.

He then felt the dog lifted from his head as Sparrow placed the dog on the ground. "You really should watch where you go around here. The cliffs are rather really high."

"Oh, and you can make the jump?" Anthony snapped back, not sure if the girl was joking or being serious. The girl just shrugged as she calmly led the way toward what seemed to be a farm. The girl seemed to jump a bit in surprise until she went calm, causing Anthony to ask, "Dude, did you twitch?"

Sparrow stared at him with confusion at his way of talking before they soon seemed to be in the center of the farm. They turned to their right to see a cage that held two gypsy-wearing people. The male shouted, "Watch out! It's an ambush!"

Anthony wasn't sure what was going on until he saw two bandits fall from the sky. He slightly panicked as he exclaimed in shock, "Holy shit, it's raining butt-ugly men! Man, that ain't right!"

Sparrow rolled her eyes at the weak joke as she quickly took out her broadsword and parried against one of the bandits. Anthony quickly tried to run back outside of the area, but the wooden gates closed. He kept on running toward it as he knew the other bandit was chasing.

He then stepped on to the gate as he ran up and did a back flip over the bandit, catching him by surprise. Once he landed behind the bandit, he did a swift kick to his back, knocking the man into the wooden gate. The bandit dropped his short broadsword so Anthony quickly grabbed it to scare the bandit.

It worked for a couple of seconds until he felt someone tap his shoulder, turning around, he saw about three more bandits, each with an evil smirk and a hammer or sword in their possession. Upon seeing this, Anthony let out a curse word in a really long breath before he blocked a downward swing of a sword. He kicked back the holder as he then punched at one that was coming to his right.

He then switched the sword in his right hand to his left to actually cut off the man's hand off, dropping the hammer. "Oh shit!" Anthony exclaimed. "I'm so sorry, dude! Aw, fuck! Lisa's going to kill me if she finds out about this."

Slightly panicking, he then quickly brushed it off as he ran toward Sparrow who was about to get shot by a bandit. The girl turned around just in time to see the blonde boy stab the man in the back, dropping his pistol. It looked a bit rusty but Anthony quickly picked it up and shot twice at the two bandits that were still standing.

He heard barking, as did Sparrow, causing the two to look over at the small. Doogal was barking at the front door. The door was pulled inward, showing a rather really buff man with a deer's head for a helmet, the antlers still attached.

"Aw, man, why the hell is everyone buff in this world?" he exclaimed as the man let out a bloodlust roar and kicked the dog, sending the animal toward Anthony which landed on his face. Caught by surprise for nearly the fourth or third time that very same day, Anthony fell back as the weight of the dog was surprisingly heavy for something so small.

He heard fighting and struggling as he then pushed the dog off and sat up, seeing Sparrow swinging her sword upwards and killed the buff, antler-wearing man. As the man lay dead on the floor, Anthony stood up and went to stand next to the female, staring down at the dead man. Feeling an awkward silence about to overcome them, he then said, "I seriously thought he was going to shout out 'I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!'" As he let out a small laugh, she just stared at him with a confused look. He gave up at the stupid joke as he then went over to the cage, trying to pry the lock off. "Damn, it won't open," he said as he kicked the door in anger.

The dog barked as it scurried off to the small house, continuously barking for his master's attention. The girl followed her dog into the house as Anthony took a couple of steps backwards to see inside the house from the cage. He heard some rustling in the tree as he looked up and saw a figure struggling to stay on a rather weak branch just above him. Anthony notice that it was about to break as he took a couple more steps back as a snap echoed through the forest, followed by the sound of a body hitting the ground hard. Anthony looked down to see yet another bandit, but this one seemed a bit more different than the ones he was forced to fight just minutes ago.

The bandit had a black ribbon tied across his forehead, black hair that was shoulder length long and had white streaks at the front bangs, and brown eyes. He wore two loose choker collars around his neck, a sleeveless shirt that was covered by a gray trench coat clothing with the sleeveless ripped apart and had threads keeping it from falling off the arms, and a pair of black leather pants. His forearms were covered with red gauntlets that were tied down by black leather strips. His shoes were mid high boots with two buckles over the foot. Near the man's hand was a black crossbow and rather large pack of arrows. Only one word went through Anthony's mind when he saw the man's outfit, Gothic Robin Hood.

The man quickly stood up as he aimed his crossbow at the pale skinned blond, causing Anthony to place his hands up in defense. "Dude, what is wrong with you? _You_ were the one who fell, not me!" Anthony stated as the man didn't let down the glare he was giving him. "So, are you going to put down the bow or are you just going to kill me, because I actually really have somewhere I need to go and I would rather not be babysitting these people." He gestured toward the caged hostages as the man lowered his weapons. Anthony then noticed that the man was a bit taller than him.

"You look... very weird," the man commented as he used the tip of his arrows to poke at the boy's clothing. Slightly annoyed, he slapped the weapon away as he shouted, "Aw jeez, and you don't look so cool yourself, Gothic Robin Hood!"

"My name is Shared the High shooter," the man introduced himself. "And you do well as to watch that tongue of yours, boy."

**Lisa: Shared the High shooter belongs to zGreece. It's his OC character.**

"Oh, look at the man who points weapons at weak-armed people," Anthony taunted as he then felt the tip of the arrow pointed on his forehead. His eyes widened in shock as he started to see his life flash before his eyes. Just as he was ready to shit himself, Shared laughed as he let down his weapon, cracking up badly. "Dang, you should have looked at your face, kid. Priceless!"

The blond boy's face reddened like a tomato as he was ready to shoot the black and white streaked haired man with the rusty pistol he had acquired earlier. Just as he was about to do the deed, he heard the cage door open as he turned to see Sparrow leading the prisoners out of the cage. He turned to look back where Shared was standing, only to see the man was now gone.

Anthony looked everywhere from where he stood, not seeing any clue to where the man had went. Scratching the back of his head in confusion, he turned to look at Sparrow as she had the leader bandit's helmet in her possession. It seemed she had to cut off the poor guy's head in order to take the trophy as Anthony nearly jumped when blood was flowing from the antler helmet. "God! Get that washed, please!" he demanded as he took a few steps away from her.

Sparrow just shook her head at the immaturity from the boy as she whistled to Doogal and headed out of the area, leading the way for Anthony who was taking ten paces behind her so he won't get any blood on his clothing or Vans.

-+-+-+-

It took nearly a day until the blockade would be taken down to let them into Bowerstone. So to past the time, Anthony decided to check out the Gypsy Camp that Sparrow had later said was where she grew up in. He watched as many of the gypsies he saw were very much like what he had figured they would be, carefree people with joyful lives. He was a bit envious about how these people lived. They didn't have to worry about school or getting a job. All they needed to survive was normal survival skills that his society had completely forgotten.

"Hey, you hungry?" He turned to see a glass plate with some celery and cooked ham on it. The hand that held the plate belonged to Sparrow as she was already chewing on her own celery. Anthony thankfully took the plate and began to eat, not realizing how hungry he was once the food went into his mouth. Silence overcame the two as he noticed her attention looking toward the main campfire. Anthony turned to see many of the gypsies dancing around and laughing, but what really caught his eye was two siblings playing together. The older sister was twirling around while her little sister was trying to hold on to her, laughing as they twirled.

Anthony glanced over to Sparrow to see the envious look in her eyes as he then asked, "So, you had a sister?" He nearly mentally slapped himself for saying that as he knew that throughout the several hours they had met, she never once mentioned her sister, Rose. When she had the surprised look in her eyes, Anthony was able to come up with an excuse that he had seen in a lot of movies and fan fictions. "Well, I saw you staring at those two for awhile so I just assumed..." He then quickly apologized as he quickly back to eating, but he then heard Sparrow said, "My sister died in Bowerstone Old town ten years ago."

Shock took over him as he looked at her with sympathetic eyes. "I... I'm sorry." he apologized, not sure if it was because he brought up the subject or the fact that he didn't know. Truthfully, he didn't know that the Hero's sister dies in the game. He never got to that part of the game since his home was attacked by the rape ninjas, or whatever they were. As he thought about it a bit more, they seemed a bit too buff to be ninjas at all. He then picked at his food with his right pointer finger as he then asked, "How... how did she die?"

He thought he was going to regret asking as he quickly dropped the contents of the plate onto the dirt and used the plate as a shield. He waited for the oncoming blow and the words that would mean "mind your own beeswax", but they never came. Instead, he heard Sparrow's voice, which was the same as Francy's, speak. "I lived in the slums of Bowerstone. My parents died, but I don't remember how really. It's been so long. I was eight years old when a trader came to Old Town, selling all these things that he said came from the Old Kingdom."

She then began to speak of the events that occurred, which were the same decision that Anthony had done back at his own home. As she continued, she then came to the part of the story where he couldn't learn about thanks to the rape ninjas. "Okay, I got to think of a new name for those guys because now it's making me sound like a pervert," Anthony mentally noted to himself.

"That very night after we made that wish and the music box disappeared, a guard came to our home and told us that King Lucien wanted to speak to us," Sparrow said. Although she sounded sad, Anthony noticed the girl may have been very hopeful back then. He might have acted like that too if he lived in the slums his whole life and suddenly he could get to meet the king, or rather the president. However, he wouldn't want to meet President Bush, maybe Clinton or Obama would have been fine. "He was intrigued that we were able to use the music box and told me and my sister to stand on some circle thing. He then told us that we were Heroes."

She then looked at the fire, as if seeing the events replaying through it.

_King Lucien stepped closer as if to touch the invisible barrier that surrounded the circle and keeping the children that were inside. Little Sparrow and Rose watched as the king jerked his hand away, acting like he had just been burned by fire. The circle's bluish color suddenly turned red. Little Sparrow looked frantically as did her older sister as King Lucien returned to the table filled with books and scrolls._

"_My lord, what happened?" she heard Rose asked, looking concerned at the king. "What was that light?"_

"_**Quiet!**__" he yelled as he kept on looking through the books. Little Sparrow quickly clung to her sister's ripped dressed as she felt frightened by the man's outburst. What happened to the nice aura that had once surrounded the king when they first entered the room?_

_He muttered on about how they were heroes, but they weren't any of the Three, that one of the them was the Fourth. He then stood straight as he pulled out a fine looking pistol, pointing at Little Sparrow. "W-what's happening?" Rose asked, as fear consumed their forms. The man seemed to debate whether or not to pull the trigger as he whispered, "This isn't what I wanted... but nothing must stand in my way."_

"_No! Wait!" Rose shouted as she saw the man's finger about to press the trigger. "Don't!"_

_Just a second before the shot was fired, Little Sparrow held her arms as if to stop the fire as she heard her sister shout. Feeling no pain coursing through and that she was still breathing, she lowered her hands just a bit to see her sister's body fall down in front of her. "Rose!" she shouted as she bent down to check on her. The bullet hit her older sister's heart, giving her a quick death. She heard an audible click as she looked up, seeing that the gun was still pointed at her. She slowly got up, fear growing in her._

_King Lucien's eyes were filled with sympathy as he said, "I can't allow you to live either..." She then noticed tears fall from his eyes as he then said, "I'm sorry."_

_Little Sparrow shook her head as she began to beg for her life, taking a step back and then another before the king fired the pistol. The impact sent through the window behind her, shattering it with her body as she fell down many stories. Her back hit a two story building roof before hitting the ground, hard._

Silence over came the two as Anthony was staring at her with a wide-eyed expression. He didn't know what to say as he waited for many long minutes for her to continue. He looked to see that her face was just like Francy's, but her personality was completely different from his high school friend. The girl had lost a loved one who was the only one she had with no one but the shaggy dog to keep her company. Francy had friends and family who would always try their best to put a smile on her face, even though she never seemed to have a hard time in her life.

"I then woke up to find myself here, at this camp. For ten years, I lived with the memory of my sister's death and I now know what I must do. With a man like him as king, I must stop him before innocent people get hurt." she said, as if to voice her resolve for this journey that she was about to take.

"And to get revenge for your sister's death," Anthony thought, not wanting to voice it aloud as he feared that the girl may just deny that fact. He then said, "Maybe I can help you. I mean, since I really don't have anywhere else to go, I might as well hang with you until I can find my way back home."

"Well, I must say that your home must be filled with many weird dressed people like you," Francy said as she commented his clothing once again, ignoring the displeased look in his expression. "Or maybe you are just the only one who dresses like that. Are you the village idiot back at your home town?"

Anthony's eyes twitched at the remark as he was glad this wasn't an anime or he might have had a really large angry mark on his forehead. He then looked down to see a black mass eating up his food. He panicked as he jumped up, only to find out that it was Doogal. He then glared at Sparrow who was laughing at him and said, "Are you sure this dog is hero material? I mean, the only thing I can find that this dog can do to really hurt any of your enemies is just jump on to their face and blind them." He folded his arms as he bent down to eye at the dog's eyes, or at least where he thought where they were. "And I really don't think this dog would stay in a fight for long."

Just then, the dog's "nose" rose up straight at him, as if calling him out, but Anthony froze as he didn't realize what side of the dog he was talking to until now. He quickly stood up straight as the dog's "head" dipped downward, toward his shoes.

"**Oh my god!**"

His shout echoed throughout the camp and a couple of miles more. Some say that his voice was heard at the ends of Oakfield.

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It's been near three days since Anthony has arrived in Albion as they soon reached Bowerstone. He looked as if he didn't have any sleep, which he didn't due to the fact that the accident that happened two nights ago was replaying in his mind. The dog seemed to have taken a liking of sitting on his beanie-covered, which he thanked his sense of fashion. If he didn't have his beanie, he didn't want to feel anything poking at his head.

"Looks like home gotten a bit better," Sparrow said as they stood in front of the arch that separated the outside world and Bowerstone. Anthony concurred as he did play Fable 1 just a couple of weeks ago during Christmas break. He found it a bit fun, a bit low graphic but fun. He remembered how Bowerstone looked in that game but this place, it looked like it had changed in so many years. He then remembered something Alvaro had told him about the second installment of Fable 2.

"_It's based on the good ending of Fable 1, five hundred years into the future._"

Five hundred years?! That's just too much, even for him. He didn't realize that Sparrow was now speaking to some man that looked he was the village idiot but he soon learned he was a singing bard, or whatever it was. He then gave the two a tour of the Market Place, showing them places where they can upgrade their equipment. Unknown to Sparrow, Anthony had been bumping into a lot of people, since it seemed rather crowded that day. He had pick pocketed about ten people as he soon got enough money for some weapons at the Blacksmith. As he then held out the money to make sure the amount was enough, he had noticed that Sparrow was now glaring at him. It seems that he had got caught on the last one as she then sighed, realizing that their budget had been pretty bad to start off with.

"Theresa said she'll meet us here in a couple of minutes so we have some time to get some more money _legally_," Sparrow said, emphasizing the last word. The white boy laughed nervously as he then saw that many of the people were staring them, mostly at him. He sighed as he knew that his clothes really stood him out, but he knew that nothing in the game had really jumped out at him so far. Even in the first Fable game, he didn't really like some of the clothing since he had always upgraded his character to be a steroid-user.

The dog was still on his head, now feeling a bit heavier, indicating that the little shaggy animal fell asleep. Sparrow then told him to wait at the middle of the market as she decided to work at the blacksmith for awhile, hoping she could get a discount on some weapons. Anthony couldn't do anything but comply as he sat down on the steps that surrounded a small tower. He dropped his right elbow on his knee as his hand held his chin so it wouldn't forward when he slumped his shoulders. Looking over to Sparrow, he watched her hammer down on some swords. At first, she would miss it completely and hit the anvil, hurting her hand.

Suddenly he felt eyes on his as he looked down a bit, seeing a small group of children curiously staring at him. They didn't seem to be in the same class as some seemed to where high class clothing while some looked like a bit in the lower class, their clothes a bit raggedy. Feeling a bit embarrassed by the stares, he then said nervously, "Uh... hi?"

"Why do you dress so strangely, mister?" said the girl in a frilly dress and a small white hat. Anthony felt a stab at his ego, feeling a bit old at the "mister" remark. He then answered, "It's because this is how people from my... home dress."

"Well, not everyone," Anthony mentally added as he remembered many kinds of fashion for teenagers these days. "You sure look weird, mister," said the boy in raggedy clothing. Getting a bit tired quickly by the comment, Anthony then said, "Look, guys. I'm only like, what, eight or nine years older than you, so you can call me... Onii-sama or something like that."

"What is "Oh knee some uh"?" said the boy, mispronouncing the word with his accent. Anthony chuckled as he said, "_Onii-sama_ is a word that you refer to people who are like older brothers. _Onee-sama_ is for girls."

"Why would we call you that?" said another boy who was dressed in fine clothing, looking a bit like that short dude from Resident Evil 4 except for the creepy face part.

"Well, it's a manner of respect in another land far from here," he said. "It's also a bit disrespectful if you call a young male 'mister'. Especially when they are only sixteen years old."

"Okay, O nay some uh!" said the high class dressed girl. Anthony corrected her as he then noticed a woman walking toward him, her red hood covering her facial features. However, he knew who she was since he had first seen her in the game, but he never caught her name. Suddenly the children quickly ran off as if something else had caught their attention, leaving Anthony alone with the old woman. "Hello, young man," she greeted as her hand were folded together in front of her as if she was a young child. Her hair was ready and she seemed a bit young, but Anthony could tell that this woman was _really_ old. He then stood up as he felt the dog slid from his head, taking his black beanie with him. Anthony didn't seem to care as he then said, "Um... hi, ma'am."

"It's good that your travel here wasn't as eventful as the attack on your home," she said. Anthony was about to joke when he realized that she just said. Looking at her as if she had mispronounced her words or was meaning something else, the old woman said, "I believe that you have been thrown into events that you may never know before it's too late, young man."

"Uh... the name's Anthony, lady," he said. "And off the record, how the hell do you know about my home getting attacked by rape ninjas?"

"These 'rape ninjas' you speak of are a very dangerous sort," the old woman said, quoting the boy with a less enthusiastic voice. He heard the sarcasm hidden in there as she continued. "I feared this would happen. You may not be the sort, but it seems you have already chosen to help Sparrow on her quest for vengeance."

"Then you must at least know what _world_ I come from," Anthony said, acting a bit serious since it was now called to take things serious now.

"You aren't in a different _world_, but in a different _time_." Although she was blind, Anthony knew that she had seen the quick change in his expression from serious to shock. These pass three days have been filled with shock for him. "All those stories you have read about medieval times have been written in order to hide the truth of the past."

"Wait, you're saying that Lionhead Studios were actually having their game based on events that actually happened?" Anthony said, almost shouting aloud but lowered his voice when he noticed that Sparrow was walking toward them.

"I will speak this matter to you later, Anthony, but for now, you must play along even if you do not know what will happen next," the old woman said as she then turned to Sparrow.

"Hello, Theresa," Sparrow greeted as she then turned to look at Anthony. She didn't do anything or say anything for a couple of moments until she burst into laughter, pointing at his head. Reaching up to his head, he realized that his beanie was still missing, revealing his very thin cut hair. Some people would think that he was balding at a young age, but it was just a bad hair cut incident. He then saw Doogal following his master, still holding the beanie in his mouth. Anthony shouted at the dog, chasing him around the market to get back his beanie.

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"So you have to go look for three other heroes and have them help you find some weapon that will stop Lucien?" Anthony said as they headed toward Old Town. Sparrow nodded her head as Doogal was now perched on Anthony's head again, gnawing on his beanie. The blond was trying his best to ignore the teeth that threatened to rip apart his poor wool hat.

"The first is the Pilgrim," Sparrow said, holding up a tarot card. "And Theresa said that we should head toward Oakfield to find this hero."

Anthony paused for a second as he then said, "You do mean Oak_vale_, right?" Sparrow stared back at him as he caught up, saying, "Actually, I haven't heard of an Oakvale, just Oakfield." Shrugging his shoulders, they soon reached Rookridge. It seemed a bit darker than Bower Lake and Bowerstone, but it was just cloudy. It was obvious there was going to be some bandits who were going to block their way, but once they reached the bridge, Anthony just stared at the large gap that was between them, and the other side of the bridge with three bandits. Two of them were taunting them while the other seemed to the opposite of what they were doing, which was amusing for a moment.

"What are we supposed to do now?" Anthony whined as he sat on the broken bridge, his legs dangling over the edge. "I mean, we could always parkour it." Sparrow looked down at him with a confused stare as he then waved it off. He then stared down at the water below, wondering if it was deep enough for a three story dive.

"Well, we tried," Anthony said as he stood up and turned to head back to Bowerstone. "Let's get legally drunk at the inn back at Bowerstone. Man, I've been dying to say that for so long!" The dog jumped from his head as he headed toward the edge of the broken bridge. He looked just in time to see Sparrow dive off the edge. He just stood there unaffected for a couple minutes until he heard the loud splash. That's when panic settled in. He ran toward the edge and saw a circle of ripples form around the area that was obvious where she dove into.

He began to panic as to whether or not to follow as he then paced across the edge, thinking of all the options. Suddenly, he stood where Sparrow had dove off as he then started to get ready to dive. However, hesitation took over him as he just stopped at the tip of the edge. Looking at how high the drop was, he then decided to just climb down on the edge, but he didn't get to make that choice as Doogal jumped on to the back of his head. The sudden weight distribution messed with his balance, causing him to fall forward toward the water.

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Sparrow ringed the water that was on her cape when she heard a rather loud splash. Looking back, she saw Anthony slowly swimming toward the shore while Doogal was on his head. She held in her laughter as he seemed to be looking a bit drowsy. While getting out of the water and walking toward her, she saw that the blond boy was holding his stomach which indicated that he had landed on his stomach on the water. He groaned in pain as he then collapsed on the small shore, ignoring the sounds of feet crunching on the sand. He heard some man frantically asking Sparrow for her help, which she would obviously help.

However, pain kept him from moving along as he then said, "I guess... you guys can go on without me... just clear the path... I'll catch up later..."

Sparrow bent down as she tried to pick him, but she was only able to get him on his knees as he still held his stomach. "God, that really hurt," Anthony said as he looked at Sparrow who was worried. "I can't believe you didn't get hurt from that high of a dive. I mean, the water was a bit shallower than I realized."

The girl Hero looked then at his legs as his knee seemed to be bleeding through his pants. "We need to get you some help. I'm not leaving you here where those bandits could just shoot you."

Anthony stared at her as if his joking personality was gone and said, "Oh, thanks for the pep talk, coach."

"I'll help."

Anthony looked over his shoulder to see the Gothic Robin Hood once again. Suddenly, Shared picked him up, his shoulder over the taller man's as Shared said, "I'll follow with the kid while you lead, girl." Anthony suspected that Sparrow would yell at him for the comment, but she just nodded her head and led the two and the man that had asked for her help toward a cave. Anthony tried to stay awake as fatigue was starting to get to him. He had never traveled this long without sleeping on a good bed. His head kept dropping up and down until unconsciousness took a hold of him.

**To Be Continued...**

**Izzy: I don't think anyone is taking an interest to this story...**

**Marielle: Well, we're updating no matter what happens!**

**Lisa: So, we'll update whenever we finish a chapter for any of our stories that aren't on hiatus.**

_**Please review. Shared the High shooter belongs to zGreece.**_


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3  
Escape the Cave, Meeting an ex-Assassin, & Renown Problems**

Anthony jolted awake when a hand slapped him across his face. He sat up as pain returned to his knee, causing him to hold it. A new pain rose as he used his left hand to hold his cheek. "Gow! That hurt!" he shouted at Shared who was smirking down at him. "Well, you were sleeping and started to get really heavy." Anthony just glared at him as he then tried to stand up, using most of his will to ignore the pain on his knee. "We're going to need to get that knee checked out when you guys reach Oakfield." Shared suggested. Anthony stared wide-eyed as he accused him, "You've been stalking us? Aw god, you're gay!"

Shared just bonked the boy's head with his crossbow, causing another pain to arise as Anthony continued to glare at him. "I was _following_ you two with the help of one of my spies, dimwit, and I'm not gay. I'm straight." Anthony let out a breath of relief as he then noticed where they were. There was a corridor blocked by a metal and wooden door, as the man was trying to find a way to open it. Behind it was a figure of a child who seemed a bit eager to get out of there. "Okay, where are we? I mean, I know we're in the cave, but I'm getting a bad feeling just sitting here like a duck." Anthony asked, hearing a small growl echo through the corridors. At first, he thought it was Doogal, but the dog was nowhere to be seen nor was Sparrow.

As if hearing his thoughts, Shared said, "Sparrow and that weird dog went off to look for another way around here." Relief flowed through Anthony as he then noticed that the man had finally opened the door. Even though he had felt relief, Shared suddenly shouted toward the man, "Get away from the door!"

Anthony was confused for only a second when he saw a deformed midget standing in the doorway, holding a club with spikes. His face was distorted, but it seemed so much like a child. He watched as the distorted child hit the man on the back, piercing the skin and bone. The man fell forward as he tried to stand up, but the midget kept on pummeling him. Shared took out a knife and tackled the thing down, making it leave its weapon in the man's back. Anthony stood up and limped toward the man as Shared slit the monster's throat. "Hey, you okay?" Anthony asked, but he wanted to slap himself for that. Of course, the man wasn't okay. He has a spike club in his back for crying out loud!

He saw blood now seeping through the man's mouth, dropping on the stones on the ground. Anthony stared at him as the man spoke in a sad but delirious voice. "I was too late... he was... they turned my son into..." Anthony then realized as he then turned toward the dead creature as Shared turned to look at Sparrow who entered the hallways with Doogal. She walked toward the man as he continued, "I always told him those stories were made up... but they were true."

He then fell forward just inches in front of Anthony. The blond watched as his blood spilled under him as Shared helped him up and said, "Come on, we got to get out of here now."

"_You should get out of there._"

"Huh?" Anthony said as he looked around frantically as Sparrow just stood there, looking at the ceiling.

"_Head for the surface, quickly._"

"Okay, am I the only one who is hearing that just now?" Anthony said aloud, catching the other two humans' attention. Shared just stared at him awkwardly while Sparrow had a surprised look. "You can hear her?"

"Uh, if you mean that echoing voice that sounded like Theresa, then yes, I can," Anthony stated in sarcasm, which got him a frown from the female. However, the attitude changed as growling echoed through the corridors. "Okay, I know it's been three days since I got here, but I really want to go home now."

"Well, we're going to have to fight our way out of here," Shared said as he held his crossbow while supporting Anthony who was now holding a Iron Flintlock Pistol that was in his sweater pocket, the reason why his stomach was hurting badly after the diving. As they continued forth with Sparrow leading, they soon came to a large cavern with a narrow path held up by many stone columns. Anthony looked over the edge to see that the fog covered the ground, concealing the height of the drop. "Wow, one step and we're dead," he commented as he then heard the growling again, only this time it was clearer and closer. Looking ahead, he saw Sparrow holding up an Iron Long sword as she charged at some of the same looking creatures from earlier.

"Jesus, what are those things?" he shouted aloud as Shared shot an arrow into one of the creatures' heads.

"Those things are called Hobbes," Shared explained as he hurried after Sparrow as she took down the small squad of them. "Tales say that Hobbes were once children who were drawn into darkness."

"That sounds too much like Kingdom Hearts," Anthony stated, receiving a confused stare from his support. Seeing the look, Anthony sighed as he said, "Never mind..." He then saw that Sparrow was about to be ambushed as he brought up his pistol and shot at the Hobbe, getting its attention as it growled and charged at him and Shared.

"Oh great, you got it mad," Shared said as he quickly ran forward with a pair of Iron Katanas and sliced off its head, sending it into the fog abyss. Without any support, Anthony fell back as he saw that another Hobbe was coming from where they had just exited. He aimed his pistol carefully as he pulled the trigger, shooting right between the eyes. Rolling over, he saw the creature fall forward with a loud thud as he got to his knees. "Oh yeah, who's fucked now?" Anthony cheered for himself as he then felt himself carried again, only now he was on Shared's shoulder.

"Aw dude!" Anthony shouted in pain. "My stomach still hurts!" Shared was obviously ignoring him as he continued to carry the boy, making him watching his own back. He didn't get to watch the fighting that the other two seemed to be getting as he only had killed one Hobbe. Pain returned to his stomach area as he tried his best to breathe. "Okay, you got really boney shoulders, man," Anthony stated as he kept feeling the older man's shoulder bone in his stomach region.

"You're not walking and slowing us down, besides," he heard Shared saw as his movements stopped. "We're almost out of here."

He felt himself now standing on the floor again as Shared gave him a piggyback ride. Looking back, he saw that a few more Hobbes was going to ambush them. His pistol was still in his hand as he aimed and shot at them.

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"Do you think that he actually survived that fall?" said one of the bandits to his friend as they stared down at the edge.

"I know we were supposed to be patrolling this area for the boss, but I didn't expect that girl to jump," said another one as he too was staring down at the water below.

"I knew she would jump, at least she listened to me," said the third one, getting glares from his comrades. They heard a loud crash as they turned to look at the abandoned carriage station, seeing that the cellar was now open. They saw the girl they had seen dive earlier emerge and their boss after, holding a male teen on his back.

"Boss!" they shouted as they hurried toward their leader. Sparrow was already out as she had her sword out, ready to fight them off when she felt Shared's hand on her shoulder. Turning to look at him, he still had Anthony on his back as he said, "Don't worry, they're with me." Sparrow just nodded her head as she placed her sword behind her while Shared carefully let Anthony sit on the ground. "Thanks for your help, man," Anthony said as Shared went toward the three bandits. "But why were you down there in the first place?"

Shared stopped walking as he then turned to look at Anthony. Sparrow knelt by the blonde's side, tending to his wounded knee. Shared then said, "Like I saw before, I was following you two. It's seems you guys are doing some big quest and I would like to offer some assistance." He then whistled as suddenly a man jumped out of nowhere and landed right next to him. Anthony freaked out a bit as he shouted, "Oh no! It's the rape ninjas all over again!"

Sparrow just stared at him with a blank stare as the dog returned to his proper spot of sitting on the blonde's head. The new comer just stared in shock by the comment while Shared was trying his best to suppress the laughter that was bound to come. It wasn't easy for his followers as they were already rolling on the floor, laughing.

"Shut up before I kick all your asses!" the new comer said.

"Now, Tuck," Shared said as he patted his head. "There is no need for you to get all anal about the situation." That's when the bandit leader started crack up as the humor grew. Sparrow just shook her head, feeling bad about how these people were the ones that would terrorize a village. She then looked over to Tuck.

He had long black hair that reached his waist, but it was tied back into a ponytail. He lets some of the hair out, bangs forming around his face and his blue eyes. He wore a blue tunic that was open and over a white shirt that was tied together with small rope buttons. His blue tunic was tied together with a black belt around his waist. He wore black gloves and a pair of black pants that were tucked into knee high boots. He was just a few inches taller than Anthony if he could stand as Shared said, "Tuck here is going to accompany you on the rest of your journey."

"Why should we need help from a bunch of bandits?" Anthony retaliated as Sparrow was about to accept the offer. "I mean, you guys are more going to help us so you can get the money!"

The three bandits behind Shared laughed as the middle one said, "The lad doesn't know our boss too well like we do."

Anthony was caught by confusion as Tuck then bent down to be eye level with them. He then explained, "Shared is one of the most honorable people you would ever meet here in these parts of Albion. He stops any of our rival bandit gangs from attacking any of the camps that settle around these parts."

"You make him sound like some Robin Hood," Anthony stated bluntly and immediately regretted it when he got confused stares from Sparrow and Tuck. As he told them to forget it, Sparrow then said, "You have a really big imagination, Anthony."

Not sure if she was joking or being complimentary, Anthony just grunted a "thanks" before he tried to stand. He let out a curse word as Tuck and Sparrow helped him up, each under his shoulder to give him support. However, due to the difference in height, Sparrow was getting more of the weight from the boy. "Looks like you guys could use a way to get there without this hassle," Shared said, mostly placing the hassle problem on Anthony who laughed sarcastically. They soon were able to fix the wagon that was inside and found a well-fed horse.

"Wow... that's a bit convenient," Anthony muttered as he now was sitting in the cart while Tuck sat in front, taking the reins. Sparrow thanked them as they bid farewell while Tuck rode them to Oakfield.

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Thanks to the new kind of transportation, they were able to get there a day early but they arrived during the night. Tuck then had them stay at the Sandgoose as he relayed the message of an audience with the Abbot in the Temple of Light. In one of the rooms, Sparrow was placing a bandage around his wounded knee. Lucky for him, it was only a scrape and sprain. He stared down at the now bandage wound as he tried to flex the leg, only for the small pain to return. He yelped in pain, making Sparrow shake her head. "Even though we healed you, doesn't mean you should be moving around," she warned as she stood up, placing the ointments and bandages back in the small pack.

"Hey, I'll heal fast, you'll see," Anthony reassured her as he lay back on the bed. "At least we can rest before we meet this... Pilgrim?"

Sparrow took out the deck of tarot cards and searched for the "Pilgrim". She finally found it as she then looked at the picture. It was a person wearing a white robe and the hood shadowing their face. The stood before a naked tree as the moon behind it all gave off an enlightening glow. "Maybe this person is a mage," Sparrow said as she threw the card at him. Amazingly, he caught it with ease as he then looked at the picture. "So... we're looking for a man?" he questioned as Tuck entered the room.

Sparrow just shrugged her shoulders and said, "I'm not really sure. We'll find out tomorrow."

"You might not be able to find out at all," Tuck said, interrupting their talk. He then stood, leaning against the wall that was next to the door. Sparrow stared at him with curiosity and asked, "And why is that? Did the Abbot say we can't meet him?"

Tuck looked at her and replied, "He said that he wants you to prove that you are worthy."

"Oh great, is this going to take us forever?" Anthony said, not feeling good about having to prove himself, even though it wasn't him who they were wanting to know better. Sparrow then said, "Maybe someone in town needs help. If it's a really bad problem, we could fix it and then the Abbot will let us help him."

"God, if this guy wanted out help, he should have just let you stroll in and inform you about whatever he needs," Anthony stated as he then got glares from the two other occupants of the room. He shrugged it off and said, "Look, you're going have do whatever quest without me since my leg is a bit fucked up right now."

"It'll heal by tomorrow," Tuck stated as then Anthony retaliated, "Well, I don't want to deal with bandits for a while. I mean, I have to start running faster than I do now just to get away from those hammers. And by the way this adventure is turning, I have to train a bit before I can do anything to help. So good night!"

He then plopped on the bed, bouncing a little before going to sleep. Sparrow just shook her head as she then noticed Tuck was staring at her. Feeling a bit awkward at that exact moment, she then said, "Uh... are you okay?" Tuck immediately snapped out of his trance as he then said, "Oh, sorry. I was just... thinking. Good night." He then stood and left the room, going to the one next door since there were only two beds in the room. Sparrow just shrugged her shoulders as she then went to bed, not noticing that the blond was chuckling at the moment.

"If he's Tucker from Red vs. Blue, Francy would flip," he mentally noted as he then went to sleep. "But then again, this isn't Francy I'm talking about..."

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It was now morning on his fifth day of being in this world as he yawned loudly, stepping out of the Sandgoose Inn. He left his black striped beanie at the room, his short blond hair revealed to all who happened to see. However, he didn't care much since he noticed that when he woke up, Sparrow's bed was made and he was nearly left alone with the bandit. He noticed that he was sitting at one of the small tables, reading a book he "found" in the inn. "Yo, have you seen Sparrow?" Anthony said. Tuck stared at him like he was crazy as he said, "My name isn't 'Yo', it's Tuck. And also, I heard she went to do something for an old friend."

"And you didn't wake me up because?" Anthony asked, wondering how come he isn't there with her.

"_This is her quest, not yours, young man._"

Anthony nearly jumped ten feet when he heard the old woman's voice, spinning around to find her. "Okay, how the **fuck** do you that?" he demanded, not caring that he had voiced out his question aloud. Tuck took it offensively as he said, "Excuse me? I didn't do anything, you nearly bald teenager."

"Not you, the old lady!" Anthony shushed the older man as he kept looking around. "What old lady?" He heard Tuck ask, but it was covered by Theresa's voice.

"_You should learn some manners, young man. As I said before, this is her quest, not yours. You are only here to assist her when it is needed._"

"Oh and you think that she can do this on her own," Anthony said as he stood proudly and asked to the sky. "Who was the one that helped her fight through the cave?"

Both Theresa and Tuck said bluntly, "That was Shared's doing." Slightly annoyed to hearing two voices, he glared at Tuck and exclaimed, "Just shut up and read!" He saw the man smirk before hiding his face in the book, realizing that it read something about the History of Albion. Finally deciding to go back inside to finish his mental talk, he reached the room and began to shout again, "What is with you and talking through minds? Do you and the Guild Master guy find entertainment in talking to people in their heads?"

"_I don't know you are talking about, and I am wondering how you can hear my voice without a seal,_" he heard her and began to think really hard, which he hated the most. After giving up just seconds later, he then asked, "Can I at least do something instead of waiting for the main character to return?"

"_You could raise her popularity,_" the old woman's suggested.

"And how the hell do you suggest I do that?" Anthony asked, but at the back of his mind slightly regretted asking about it at all.

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"Twenty gold for just a stinkin' song?" Anthony stared at the bard in shock. "I could just buy a drink and sing whatever I song I want!"

"Actually, it'll be twice the amount, lad," the singer corrected as he folded his arms, looking at the teenager as he seemed to be impatient.

"Dude, you seemed nicer in the videos," Anthony muttered to himself as he then saw that there wasn't much time. Sighing in defeat, he handed him twenty gold pieces and said, "Here…"

The bard smiled happily as he took the twenty gold pieces and took out a lute, started singing on about all the things that Anthony told him about Sparrow. As the man sang about their start of the journey up to the cave of Hobbes, he sat with Tuck who was now eating brunch with two plates on the table.

As he sat, the bandit gave him the plate he wasn't eating from, showing that it had scrambled eggs and fried ham. "Eat up, kid," Tuck said as he took a bite from the bacon strip he had. Anthony just stared down at the food before eating it carefully, not really trusting the bandit. Silence soon enveloped the two when the bard was done singing, gaining praise from the audience and also renown for Sparrow. Feeling awkward, Anthony then spoke.

"So, I saw you looking at Sparrow last night," Anthony blunted said, catching the man off guard. Tuck nearly choke on his drink as he stared at the boy, his chin covered with the ale he was drinking. Anthony cackled at the "reply" as he pointed at the man. Tuck told him to shut up as he quickly cleaned his face as he then said, "I thought you fell asleep!"

"I only sleep when I want to, _mister_," Anthony said, using the name the kids at Bowerstone had called him. "So, you like her or something?"

"What? _You_ like her?" Tuck retaliated. Anthony made a disgusted face in reply as he replied, "Dude, she's a friend. Plus, she reminds me of someone else that I can only see _as_ a friend. That and I can't really imagine myself with her." As he thought about it, he cringed slightly.

After cleaning his mind of the thought, he then asked again, "So, you like her or something?" Tuck just stared at his food as he then shrugged. "I don't know. She's pretty and all, but I'm a _bandit_. The way you just talked about her earlier, she's some _hero_. How can you see her going with me?"

"Just a little hunch, man," Anthony muttered quietly as they continued eating, changing from different subjects like what happened in the cave and checking out the maids that happen to pass by.

After what felt like two hours, they had seen about ten maids when they felt someone smack their heads with gloved hands together. Rubbing their foreheads from the pain, they turned around to see that it was Sparrow who was now glaring at them with displeasure. Anthony laughed nervously while Tuck just glared at her. Doogal then popped out of nowhere on to the table and jumped on to Anthony's face, licking him and smother him with his tongue and fur.

"Oh god! The mop's killing me!" he cried as Tuck started cracking up. The older man then looked at the girl and said, "So, how'd the hunting go?"

"Terrible, that bandit named Dash wouldn't stop running around when I finally got him cornered," she complained as she sat in Anthony's seat who was still be smothered by the dog.

"Dash? Wow, looks like a thanks is in order from Shared," Tuck said, catching the girl's anger off guard. She had a questionable look as he then explained. "Dash used to be one of our best guys at recon when he then wanted to become second command. Apparently, I got promoted which really pissed him off. He then took some of our youngest members and swore that he would kill me and Shared. I was ordered to kill him."

"So you're saying I just did your job?" Sparrow stared at him with disbelief. Tuck leaned back on his chair, looking relaxed. When he nodded his head, he felt his balance fail him when he felt a plate hit him square in his chest. His head hit the floor hard as he cringed and curled into a ball, holding his head in pain.

Seeing that the two men were down, she then decided that to go somewhere and show off her knew trophy. As she walked away, she whistled to Doogal causing the little dog to bark and jump off Anthony's face. The boy was unconscious with his face covered with dog saliva.

-+-+-+-

After a couple more hours, Sparrow and Anthony were sitting in the room, waiting for news from Tuck. He entered with a pleased look as he said, "The Abbots heard about you and would like to speak with you. He's just up the path through the small woods.

"Finally!" Anthony said as Sparrow just stared at him and stated. "It only took half of a day."

"Yes, but it was just at that time, we could have used to do something else than making you famous more," Anthony stated, getting a blank stare from the other two. Realizing that no one was going to agree with him, Anthony just grabbed his Iron Katana and Iron Pistol. Sparrow got her Steel Pistol and Iron Long sword as they followed Tuck to the Temple of Light.

As they reached a small lake that was being fed by a waterfall, Anthony asked Tuck, "Tuck, does this Abbot guy want us to protect someone or something?" The older man looked surprised at the blond and said, "How'd you know?" Anthony just laughed nervously and said, "Lucky guess, man. Just tell me before I do some fortune telling shit and sound stupid." Tuck just stared at him before explaining, "The Abbot wants someone to protect one of the monks. It has something with the Golden Oak ritual or whatever it's called."

"What the hell is the Golden Oak?" Anthony asked as he caught up with Tuck before noticing that the dog wasn't walking on the floor. He then noticed a heavy weight on his back as he looked over his shoulder, seeing a black furry mop clinging to his sweater. He then glared back at Sparrow who had an amused face and demanded, "Does your dog have a fetish for my clothing or something?"

"I guess it could be that he likes you a lot, Anthony," she said, getting a groan from the blond as the dog continued to make it small climb to his head. It would be a long walk toward the temple even though it was just around the corner.

**To Be Continued**

**Lisa: Yeah! Chapter 3 is up!**

**Izzy: You go work on the other chapter three's for the other stories while I reply to UltimateKeyMaster.**

**UltimateKeyMaster: Thanks for the review and yes you're right, the reference will never end... not sure if we had one in this chapter. -shrugs- That damn Doogal really likes Anthony's hat!**

Please review. We'll update soon.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4  
Ex-Ninja Appears, Helping a Strong Monk, & Recruitment**

"So we have to find this Hannah chick?" Anthony asked as he and Sparrow walked back down the hill, heading back toward Oakfield. Sparrow nodded her head as Doogal was resting once again on the blond boy's head. "She's the daughter of the Abbot and he's really worried of her safety," she stated as they continued walking, getting closer to the wooded area. Anthony then nodded his head and said, "I would be more worried if my daughter had to go on to do some ritual with the help of some stranger… not that I have a daughter."

"_This is no time for jokes, young man. We need this woman for she may as well be the Hero we seek,_" Theresa stated, Anthony unfazed as he was getting comfortable hearing the woman's voice in his head, even though it's been only a day. He was about to ask what Hero this person would be when Sparrow shushed him. Anthony stood still as they heard a rustle in the trees. He watched as Sparrow took out her pistol and then aimed behind them in the trees. A fire echoed through the small woods followed by a loud thud with a scream of pain. Anthony turned around to see Alvaro wringing in pain as he held his leg. "**Fuck! Oh god! What the hell?**" Alvaro shouted as he rolled around the path in pain.

Anthony recognized the face easily as he let out a sigh of relief as he said, "Dude, Alvaro. Thank God you're here!" The boy turned to look at him as he was now hunched over with his left leg up and limping. "What the? Who the fuck is Alvaro?" Anthony stated in shock as he slapped himself as he scolded himself mentally. "Damn it, I forgot! These guys aren't them... I hate the stupid fact that this world is actually the past... Who knew that a game company would actually have created a game based on an actually event in the world's history yet it was never officially recorded? And why am I thinking so much?"

He then watched as the teenager limped toward them and saw that he wore an Assassin's coat that was black and a dark green sash around the waist. He also saw that he wore a dark green bandanna over the lower half of his mouth, trying to conceal his identity that didn't really work since Anthony recognized the face. A large glove covered his right hand while a thin silk cover with a ring holding it to his middle finger covered the other. He wore black-checkered pants that were tucked under knee-high boots.

"Why the fuck did you shoot at me? Can't someone just sit in a tree and rest without someone trying to kill him?" the man shouted at Sparrow as Anthony then asked, "Uh… what the hell are you, some retard ninja?"

The teenager glared at him as he said, "The name's Allen and I am **not** a retard ninja! I'm an elite ninja, the last living one of my village."

"So you're a noob," Anthony stated bluntly while Sparrow and Allen stared at him with confusion. Seeing the looks on their faces, he groaned as he said, "**Oh my god! You guys don't know what 'noob' means?**" He was about to rant more but stopped himself as he asked Allen, "Why were you sleeping in a tree?"

Feeling a bit angry at the moment, Allen snapped back. "Why do you sleep in a _bed_?" The blond was slightly taken back by the statement as he stuttered, "Uh… because I like to and it feels better than sleeping on a twig that could break **under your weight!**"

Allen and Anthony then continued shouting about nonsense things as Sparrow just watched with annoyance. What was it that this blond had with picking fights with people who were older than him? She then suddenly heard something above all the ranting of the men. It echoed through the forest as she heard also the sounds of the small town bustling in the afternoon. She decided to leave the quarreling men to investigate as she signaled Doogal to stay with Anthony. She followed the road until she heard the voice coming to her upper left. She went through the small ruins of vine covered pillars as she then saw a woman with rather large muscles sitting on a stone wall covered with vines.

The red haired woman's hand held a bottle of wine or beer as she took a swig and continued singing.

_Down by the reeds  
Down by the reeds  
Swim the Sirens of Oakvale  
Out to the seas_

Down by the reeds  
Down by the reeds  
Float the souls left unbroken  
By white balverines

Down by the reeds  
Night blooming weeds  
Embrace those who go dancing  
In sad moonlit dreams

Sparrow heard a small shuffle behind her as she glanced over her shoulder to see Anthony hiding with her and staring at the woman, Doogal still sitting on the blonde's head with interest in the woman. Allen seemed to be standing a bit far from them, as he seemed to be uninterested with the spot of entertainment. She sent a small glare to him as she returned her attention to the woman.__

Down by the reeds  
A twisted path leads  
To banshees who breathe out  
A cold winter's breeze

Nobody knows  
Nobody sees  
The Sirens of Oakvale  
Down by the reeds 

Unable to control her excitement, Sparrow jumped up in joy and clapped her hands in excitement. The woman slightly jumped in surprise as she saw the small audience she had. She smiled and said, "I knew my beautiful voice would gain some recognition." The woman took a long and last swig of the bottle before tossing it into a bush and jumping down to the ground. Sparrow then noticed that a rather large jug was laid against the wall, kindly blocking some downward path to somewhere. The two stepped towards the woman while Allen just stayed back, not wanting to be included.

"Seems you are the ones that Father had requested help from, not sure if I would really need it," the woman said as she muttered the last part. She then smiled and said, "The name's Hannah, although people call me Hammer when they're trying to be funny. And they're not." Anthony nodded his head as he was sure not wanting to be at the bad end of this woman's temper, if she ever had one since she is a daughter of an Abbot.

"I'm afraid Father forgot to tell you that only two people can come into the Spring," Hannah stated, gesturing toward Anthony. He was about to speak against this notion, but he stopped to think. If she was indeed the Hero they were looking for, then something in there was going to try and kill them. With this new information, he then said to Sparrow, "Well, I'll wait for you and Doogal back at the Temple."

Sparrow looked over to see that Doogal was already off the blonde's head and licking the very strong woman's face. She then turned to watch Anthony walk toward Allen and try to sling his arm over the ninja's shoulders. This caused Allen to shove him off and start saying threats toward the teenager. Shaking her head, she turned to look at Hammer as she took the jar over her shoulder as if it was a water bag, encouraging her to go first.

-+-+-+-

"Man, you sure are different from Alvaro, that's for sure," Anthony said as he was now holding his shoulder in pain. Allen seemed to feel a bit proud as he easily jumped over the two yard gap of water over the falls, not using the stone steps. Looking displeased, Anthony said, "Psh... I can do that!"

Allen stood back as he folded his arms over his chest, looking intrigued by the teenager. He then watched as Anthony took a couple steps back, trying to get a running start. He waited for a couple of long moments before the beanie-covered blond ran toward the gap. Just was he was about to make the jump, Allen heard a voice behind him call out to the blond. The ninja stared wide-eyed as Anthony hesitated and landed on one of the stones. Since they were steps in water, Anthony slipped on them and flowed with the current, causing him to fall into the lake below. Allen still stood at his spot as he leaned to his right, looking over the edge to see the blond surfacing and coughing. He felt another presence as he turned to see a man with a long black hair in a ponytail who shouted at the teenager an apology. Slightly amused, he let a smile appear on his features but it was covered by his mask.

It took a couple more minutes until Anthony finally reached them; walking across the stones and stalking pass them. Behind him, he left a trail of water and three monks who had an amused look on their faces. As he got closer to Tuck and Allen, he glared at them and said, "You two are the biggest dicks in the world." He then stopped to stand next to Allen as he said in a threatening voice, "I'll remember this when I get back."

Once Anthony continued walking toward the temple, Allen had a confused face as he said, "Isn't he already up here?" Tuck just shrugged his shoulders to answer the question before following the trail of water footsteps. Allen looked back toward the forest, staring at the road. A cold chill went up his spine as he quickly shook it off before following them into the temple.

_Hours later..._

"That's a fucking lie," Allen stated as he stood up from the table. Anthony just looked amused as the ninja continued stammering about how the blond was making up rules for him to just win. Apparently, he was since he didn't really want to tell the real rules of the game, chess. Tuck was just shaking his head as he was playing as the spectator, watching all the moves that have happened. Although he didn't want to take sides, he knew that Anthony was cheating. The Abbot was waiting anxiously for the girls' return as he then returned back into the temple, slightly amused by Allen's ranting.

"You don't just make _two _L-shaped moves in one turn," he stated with an angry tone. "You said it yourself!"

"I am appalled by such accusations," Anthony said, slightly taken back by the words he had just used as he continued. "I have won several games fair and square and you chose to use this opportunity to object the rules of the game, the _official_ rules?" Tuck just stared at him with boredom as he turned to see the Abbot joining in the small group. "Abbot, are Sparrow and your daughter back yet?" he asked. He felt the piercing stare from Anthony on his back, but when he turned around to look, he was still smirking at Allen who was still ranting at him. The Abbot shook his head and smiled, his face wrinkling a bit as he said, "I'm sure that they'll be back, unharmed."

Tuck then let down the smile he had as it was quickly replaced by a worried look. "Then why does it feel like something bad is going to happen?"

Anthony stared him as he said, "You know that if something does happen, I am blaming you for whatever occurs? **You probably jinxed it already!**" He had pointed at Tuck accusingly as the others just stared him while Allen just looked displeased, fingering the King marker. He sighed as he aimed to surrender the way Anthony told him to when the table suddenly shook violently. Allen raised his hands, making sure it wasn't his doing as everyone in the large room turned to look at the shaking table. However, that wasn't the only thing was shaking. Allen looked around as the whole placed seemed to be experiencing an earthquake as he then noticed a weird phenomenon in the room.

Right at the middle, there was a glowing circle that made movement of a pool of water that was disturbed by a thrown pebble. He then noticed lightening coming from it and out the room through the front door, or could be vice versa. He didn't care as he then saw four forms fading into the room. His eyes widened in shock as his mouth opened widely as well. Allen noticed the look on his face as he saw the blond lift his hand to point at them and shout, "**It's the rape ninjas!**" Tuck then stood up quickly and glared at Anthony before saying, "What is it with you and rape ninjas? You got a fetish for them or something?"

But before he could reply, Anthony felt himself grabbed by the collar and thrown out of the room. He skidded on the dirt for a bit until he was about a few yards away, just lying in the middle of the road to the temple. He got up as dirt now clouded his clothes and his beanie was now ready to fall of his head and into his hood. As he tried to dust himself off, he then looked up to see another body aiming for him. With no time to react, he braced himself as he did in his wrestling practice drills he did at school and was able to catch Tuck. The impact made him move about a foot from his original position, but he was able to stay standing as he was holding the man by his under arms. "You okay, dude?" he asked. "I told you! My name isn't 'dude', it's Tu-" was all that came out of the older man's mouth when another body was thrown toward them, only Anthony wasn't ready he felt one foot hit his chest and another hit Tuck's face, as using them as leverage.

Allen looked back up toward the temple as he saw two of the four that intruded heading out. He then pushed off from his support, causing the two men to fall back and him soaring back into the room. Anthony saw this as he ignored the two black clad men and said, "How the fuck did he do that? Last time I checked, Alvaro cannot do that kind of shit!" He was then picked up and thrown once again while Tuck was held to the ground by one of the guards. Anthony was prepared this time as he was able to flip around and land on his feet, stumbling a bit and looking about to the see the black clad man charging toward him with a broadsword.

His eyes widened as he turned to run and shouted, "**FUCK!**"

_Minutes later..._

It was now dark out when Sparrow finally stepped out of the cave, following Sister Hannah as she was suddenly not there. She already knew where the woman was as Doogal was scurrying after his owner, barking and growling. The girl took out her pistol as she jumped down the cliffs before reaching the main ground. She started running out of the small wooden arch when she notice movement at the corner of her eye. Turning to look, she saw Anthony desperately trying to avoid all the sword strikes by a black clad man while blocking some with his katana. Seeing that the teenager's strength was starting to fail, she aimed her pistol and shot at the man's shoulder. The man seemed to be unfazed as he turned abruptly at her and growled in anger. He charged at her as she heard Anthony shout out a warning.

She was able to jump over the man while Doogal just slid under him as the two quickly stood at Anthony's side. "This guy is super strong! He might be Superman's brother!" Anthony stated as he then saw the confused look again, but brushed it off as the black clad man was turning around and ready to charge again.

"You got any tricks up your sleeve, Sparrow?" Anthony said. At the corner of his right eye, he saw her shake her head in a 'no' gesture. He then said, "We are screwed then."

Suddenly, he saw a small light flick below him to his left. Looking down, he saw that his hand was starting to be surrounded by streaks of lightening. He lifted his hand as Sparrow saw it too, both amazed. Little did they know that this was distracting also to the black clad buff soldier, wondering what it was. It started flicker around his hand and up his arm as it started to envelope it, showing that it seemed alive. He knew what it was and he was surprised that he wasn't freaking out or wondering why the lightening wasn't hurting him. He then noticed another glow as he turned to see Sparrow lifting her pistol. It was glowing light blue as the lightening was started to react to it, becoming a bit bigger.

"_It seems that you two were brought together not just by coincidence,_" they heard Theresa's voice through their minds. "_Fate has brought this man as your Keeper, a guardian for Heroes._"

"But... there wasn't any of these 'keepers' back in the first Fable game," Anthony thought, but it didn't go unheard as Theresa said, "_This isn't a game, but the Keepers were killed way before my time. You may be their descendant, but possibly not the last._"

"So what does this mean exactly," Sparrow asked through her mind. Anthony took the moment to notice that time seemed to have slowed down around him, showing that they were in the same abyss that he was falling through just days ago, but they seemed to be standing on invisible floor.

"_Back then, the Keepers sent their power to assist the Hero in dangerous quests of valor and fame, mostly on situations that could end the story for any Hero. Your powers will combine into one attack that, with training and time, become one of the most powerful weapons in your disposal,_" she explained. "_What you do now is up to your own imagination, _Keeper."

The surroundings reverted back to the small lake and waterfall, the night sky reappearing, all in a second. The man was still standing there but now his shock was gone and he was ready to charge to kill. Sparrow was about fire at the man when she saw Anthony disappearing from her left, spinning behind her, and standing on her right, holding the gun that was in her hand. As he made her aim at the man, he let go and formed his hand to look like he had a gun to, his pointer finger pointed at the black clad man and his thumb up.

"Fire when I say," he said, sounding a bit serious than he usually does. Sparrow was surprised at the change of attitude. Throughout the three days she had met him, he always had a cheerful and upbeat attitude, but now he seemed so serious that he had a different person in him. She was pulled back to reality when she heard the blood lust roar from the black clad man. She then noticed that the electricity was enveloping both of their hands, but she never took her eyes off the charging man. She heard the teen shout out a word, and she pulled the trigger. Just at that moment, Anthony muttered out two words.

"Boom, bitch."

The lightening and the bullet suddenly fused at that moment, combining into a rather large orb of light. The pull back from the bullet sent the two flying back. Sparrow was able to stay standing while Anthony skidded on his back. They both look to see the man consumed by the light and soon vanish it, just at that moment. His scream echoed through the area as the surroundings were touched with small sparks of light. Anthony slowly got up and stared at the now charred body. The stench of burnt skin filled the air as he said quickly to Sparrow, "I'm going to throw up now."

Sparrow saw him run into the forest, followed by the sounds of him upchucking whatever was in his stomach. But that didn't keep from her hearing a loud gunshot echo through the area. Thoughts ran through her mind as she quickly ran toward the temple as another gunshot was heard. Getting closer, she saw that Tuck was knelt to the ground with a smoking pistol in his hand. Before him was a dead man that was dressed similar to his companion that she and Anthony had just killed minutes ago. Heading over to Tuck, he was bleeding on the side of his arm and his side, seeing cuts from a blade. She also saw Allen just stab another man with some small knife with a weird handle and pushed him back, making the body thud to the ground like a bad of rotten tomatoes.

"I fucking hate Spire Guards," Allen said as he spat at the body and headed toward the two. "You guys okay?" When Tuck nodded his head and tried to stand, Sparrow noticed that one more of the black clad men was inside. He was standing over a body that was lying on the floor; it was the Abbot. She quickly ran toward the Temple, nearly leaving Tuck who had fallen back on the ground while Allen just watched him fall. Tuck stared up at the ninja who was just staring down at him as the ponytailed man said, "You're a dick."

Sparrow entered the room just as Hannah suddenly came out of nowhere and smacked the man across the room, instantly killing him. She stood there and watched as Hannah cried over the Abbot's lifeless body. She felt Doogal stand next to her as he whined sadly, staring up at his master then at the mourning woman.

Back at the small lake below, Anthony wiped his chin as he flicked his arm with disgust. "That's just wrong," he said, commenting on the outcome of his and Sparrow's attack. He headed toward the water as he was ready to wash his hands when he saw something disturb the water. It was just a small ripple, but it caught his attention. It was soon followed by many ripples until the whole lake was disturbed. He looked up to stare at the dark sky, feeling raindrops falling down on his head. The song was about to play in his head but he soon stopped as he heard the sound of sobs and cries coming from the temple. Dread came over him as his clothes became drenched and his beanie fell off his head. It made a flop sound once it hit the floor while Anthony stared at the cliff, seeing the top of the temple.

_Next Afternoon..._

Anthony was at the Sandgoose Inn with Tuck and Allen. Hours ago, they had buried the Abbot's body on a hill, giving the old man peace. The blond was drinking water while Allen was leaning back on the door frame. Tuck was sitting at the bar with Anthony as he took a swig from his small jug of gin. His arm and side were bandaged as the clothing were also washed clean of blood. Anthony was thankful that the women hear were able to get the blood and dirt out of his clothes and beanie so he wouldn't have to wear the current century's fashion.

"So... what now?"

The two turned to look at Allen as he joined them at the bar, obviously his back hurting from lying against the large door frame. He lowered his mask to get a quick gulp of the drink that the bartender had placed for him. Anthony sighed and said, "Sparrow went off back to the Guild with Hannah in order to help explain her role in this... thing we are on." Allen didn't question a bit more as he sighed and slapped his hand on the counter. "Well, I'll see you guys when I see you," Allen said, bidding farewell as he stood up and replaced his mask over his mouth.

"Wait," Anthony said as he stood up as well. "Why don't you help us? I mean, it will be easy with a ninja on our team."

Allen looked at him, seemingly unconvinced as he placed his hands on his hips to add to his thought. Anthony turned to look at Tuck as he said, "Dude, did you see what he did during the fight? Did he throw some of those ninja stuff that Naruto does on TV?" Tuck looked back at him with an annoyed look as he asked, "What the fuck are you talking about? And what the hell is a TV?" Shaking it off, Anthony asked again, "Did he, like, throw ninja stars and stuff?"

He wasn't sure why, but he felt tension rise between the two as Tuck suddenly looked more annoyed than earlier while Allen tried to avoid the hopeful stare from Anthony. Looking between the two, the blond then asked, "Um... okay... what happened after I was chased by the rape ninja?"

"Look," Tuck said as he turned to look at them, leaving his empty jug for the bartender to take as well as the gold that he left behind. "First off, they aren't 'rape ninjas', they are Spire Guards. Second, this guy can throw his stars and knives, but he sure can't aim well." Anthony froze at that as he slowly turned to look at Allen who was now scratching the back of his head in frustration. Looking between the two, he then asked, "_What happened?_"

"Well now... that's a funny story," Allen said, sounding a bit more like his counterpart that Anthony personally knew at school.

"_Anthony, you bloody bastard!" Tuck shouted as he got up. "I'm going to kill you when you get back here for leaving me!" His voice was obviously ignored as the teenager was still running from the Spire Guard that was chasing him. Allen had dashed back inside to obviously protect the Abbot, leaving him with two very buff men to fight with. With no weapons on him, he went into a fighting stance that he had learned from Shared, his palms facing them as he shouted, "Come with it, then!"_

_One of the guards move to charge, but Tuck lowered his guard slightly when something pierced his side. Looking down to see a sharp metal star imbedded into his side, blood seeping through his clothing... his blood. Looking back up, he then saw Allen thrown outside again, this time he landed next to him on his feet. Allen looked a bit peeved at first as he took a quick glance to see before freezing at the sight of a metal star in the man. Kneeling down quickly, Allen pulled it out of him quick, causing Tuck to wince in pain and glare at the man. _

_Tuck then noticed that on hidden under the flap of his assassin's coat, there was a brown bag filled with knives and metal stars like the one that got him. "What the?" he said as he stood up. "whose side are you on?"_

"_Look, I'm sorry," Allen said as he then looked around while his face still looked toward him. "The night... is really fucking up my aim." He then took out a knife that seemed a bit strange to Tuck as Allen aimed to throw it. However, his back swing was a bit too strong as his grip let the knife go and knick Tuck's arm. The knife then landed in the tree that was behind them a few feet away. Hearing a thud on the ground, Allen stared down at him as he then said again, "Sorry..."_

Anthony was trying his best not to laugh as he cringed on the chair, leaning on the counter as his body shook from the laughter he was trying to suppress. Allen was obviously blushing under his mask while Tuck just glared at him. "Dude," he said. "You are by far the worse ninja I have ever met, and I barely meet ninjas back home!" He nearly fell off the chair as he then said, "Your aiming must suck really bad!"

"**Shut up!**" Allen shouted as he said. "Anyways, what does that have to do with me joining you? If you know any better, you could just leave me alone."

"We could always train you."

Everyone turned to the door frame to see Shared standing there, looking a bit too proud. Tuck lifted his head up like how all those Filipino boys that Anthony see in school do to greet people silently. That's what Lisa even done when she was in her tom boy mode. "It seems that you have the skills to be a great ninja, but you lack precession." the Bandit Leader stated. "We could help you work on that."

"You should also help this boy get some courage," Tuck said, reminding Anthony about him running off. Feeling a bit mad, he objected, "Hey! I can't even use this swords the way Tom Cruise used it in 'the Last Samurai'." Ignoring the fact that he used another thing that wasn't even known at this time, Shared said, "Then I can teach you in the ways of the sword." Anthony didn't look impressed as he said, "Don't tell me I have to look for a golden wolf."

"I don't have any golden colored dogs in my camp, but I can still teach you," Shared said as he then looked at Allen. "You can maybe even protect Hannah from anymore misfortunes."

Anthony laughed a bit and said, "What? Does he like her or something?" Allen looked displeased as he said, "She is just a friend and I don't even like her like that. The Abbot brought me in a few weeks ago after a lot of traveling." Anthony just shrugged as he noticed that Shared was still waiting for him to answer. Sighing after awhile, the blond said, "Okay man, but you better not go Mister Karate Kid master on me. Wax on, wax off." He made the motions that he remembered from the movie, causing the others to shake their heads at his constant talk.

"I suggest you all return to Bowerstone," he said. "I think Sparrow maybe calling you guys since it may take some time before your next big adventure begins."

"_He's right,_" Anthony heard Theresa say in his mind. He was about to jump at it, but now it just felt a bit more common to hear the old woman's voice. "_You will need to learn much in order to stay alive in this time before you return back to yours. I suggest you also congratulate the ninja man for joining you._" Mentally shrugging, he let his hand out to Allen who stared at it then looked up at him. Anthony smirked as he said, "Welcome to our little group, Allen."

The ninja nodded his head as he reached to take his hand. Once their finger tips touched, Anthony's hand was engulfed by electricity again while Allen's suddenly became smoke. Both panicked as they jumped away from each other, they hands returning back to normal. Both flicked their hands, trying to see if it was just a trick of the eye, but the looks on the other occupants of the Inn begged to differ. Anthony open and closed his hand before looking up in awe and asked, "What the hell was that?"

**To Be Continue**

**Lisa: Chapter 4 is done! Sweet!**

**Izzy: I thought we were posting Mass Effect this week.**

**Marielle: This is more fun and stuff, but she is almost done with ME's chapter 3. Now, onward to review replies!**

**UltimateKeyMaster: LOL, if we were targeting your favorite games, we would have a list already from ya! X3 Anyways, thanks for the review again.**

**Black-Dove15: Yes, Anthony is a bit of noob when it comes to be thrown into another time, but that's how he would react to this. **

**Paladin of Light 288: Thanks for the review!**

_Please review. We'll update again soon!_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5  
Training, Attempts on Matchmaking, and All that Happens in Thirteen Days**

Anthony was on a small carriage with Shared as the other occupant. He looked extremely bored as he stared at the scenery going by. Theresa had somehow taken the role of being his mother and forced him on this trip for ten days of training with bandits. He was very skeptically about staying at a campy for ten days.

The main reason was that most of the bandits he had met so far had tried to kill him and Sparrow since he had come to this time. What really pissed him off was that nearly everyone who they fought against or with was super buff, except for Tuck, Allen, Sparrow, and Shared. Hannah was the definition of what Japanese people think American female bodyguards look like in cartoons or that chick from Superjail. He cringed at the thought on how the Warden had such a weird attraction toward that woman, if Alice was even a woman.

He twitched again which caused Shared to look at him with concern. "Are you alright? Are you sick or something?" he asked, getting a sarcastic glare from the blond teenager. "Nah, I'm just thinking something really awkward. I mean," Anthony knelt forward to indicate a private conversation. "Why the hell is everyone all buff in this world? Do you guys have steroids or something? Because if that's so, it's just not fair for us who don't want to have our balls shrink to the size of peas."

Shared laughed at the small joke as he then patted the boy's head. Anthony felt like he was treated like a child at that moment. He fixed his beanie that nearly fell off his head when the older male patted his head. "It's mostly training, young man," Shared stated. "You may see most of my men are like that too, but some are a bit tall as well."

Anthony nodded his head as he lay back on his seat as he turned to see that they now entered a forest. "Where the hell are we now?" he asked. Shared stared at the window and stated proudly, "We are now in Brightwood, my apprentice."

The blond was about to ask what was Brightwood before hearing the "apprentice" bit. "Apprentice? Bandit leader said what?" he said, sounded like he muttered the last part. Shared smiled as he explained. "I can't teach anyone who just is just a new comer. Plus, my men expected me to bring an apprentice for some time."

"How old... the fuck... are you?" Anthony said, blurting it out rudely. However, Shared didn't seem offended as he continued talking after answering his question. "I'm twenty six and still kicking, and I'm not _that_ old." They heard a loud knock outside as the door to the carriage opened as the bandit driver said, "We're here, boss."

Following Shared as he stepped out of the carriage, he almost felt his jaw drop down to the floor. Nearly everyone here was either buff or taller than him as they either were shooting arrows at a target placed on trees, having dangerous sword fights in a circle, or just drinking and singing near some makeshift bar. He just stood there as Shared just looked down at the younger male in amusement as he then placed two fingers in his mouth, whistling loudly and catching everyone's attention. Anthony then felt that everyone's attention and eyes were on him, looking all intimidating and ready to kill him. His hand twitched, aching to grab his Iron Katana that was strapped on to his back or use his new found power, which he hasn't been able to recall back yet since yesterday. Cursing mentally, he raised his right hand and waved, trying to smile without revealing his small fear.

"This is Anthony, my friends, and from this day forward, he'll be an apprentice," Shared announced. Unsure what to do as the attention had averted back to him after Shared spoke, he then did what he had seen all those Japanese anime shows do when a new student enters a school. "Uh... please take care of me?" he spoke, hoping it didn't come out wrong. He bowed after saying that comment and stood up straight to see no reaction in the crowd. Awkward tension rose in the atmosphere as suddenly, all of them cheered and whooped and a shot was fired into the air. Feeling as if he was accepted, he was about to step forward when suddenly an eagle fell down just a few feet in front of him. The cheering quickly subsided as everyone was now staring at the dead bird. Then the attention was forced open a young male with his pistol up in the air, pointing at the sky.

Anthony saw that the man was a bit bald, except for the fact that he had some hair growing. He looked like his usual expression would be a very angry man, but at the moment; he was looking a bit shocked and embarrassed. Shared groaned and said, "What am I going to do with him?" For an odd reason, the boy reminded Anthony of that Jedi apprentice from the Star Wars game that came out a few months ago.

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Now at Bowerstone, Sparrow had decided to take a small job until Theresa called for her to look for the second Hero. Hannah was safe at the tattered Guild, resting for what will come. Tuck and Allen were able to purchase a household for the group to stay in whenever they come to Bowerstone for supplies and such. However, Tuck was currently watching from afar as Sparrow was able to forge yet another perfect sword for the blacksmith. He watched as she hammered down on the metal that was still glowing bright red from the fire, only to mess up when a small child would cheer for her. Apparently, her job at defeating Dash had gotten her more publicity and more fans, which oddly upsets him.

"I sense envy in you, Padawan."

Tuck turned around to see Allen standing behind him under the bell tower as Tuck was sitting on the small steps. He looked at him with a questioning look as Allen explained, "That damn blond kept on talking about some stupid war and now it leave my mind. He sure is annoying." Tuck just laughed at him as the ex-ninja joined him in sitting on the steps. Seeing the bandit's source of attention, Allen said, "Why don't you ask her?"

Looking at him with surprise, Allen said, "Hey, you may think you can hide your emotions like Mister Sheriff there, who I still think needs to **get out whatever is up his ass!**" Allen shouted the last part to the said target that walked past them, giving him the middle finger. "Right back at you," Allen said as he then looked at Tuck to continue his talk. "But I mean come on. Sooner or later, some guy who I doubt would look better than you will ask her and she might return the affection." He then sense despair rise from the older man as he then said, "But I can help seize the maiden's heart, my friend."

Tuck then stared at him with disbelief and asked, "This isn't going to get me into a lot of trouble or pain, now is it?"

Allen shook his head as he then smirk mischievously before saying, "But it will cost you some gold for my services." He chuckled when Tuck lowered his head in defeat, cursing about how there was always a catch. After his neck was starting to hurt at the heaviness of his head, Tuck looked up at Allen, as he seemed to have determination written over his face. "What do we do?"

The ex-ninja clapped his gloved hands together as he stood up and said, "Well, first we are going to need some accomplices." As he said that, a trio of teenagers walked by them as Allen made to follow them. Knowing he might be broke by the end of the day, he went back to the household that was in between the potions and bookshops.

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"Do you really know how to hold a sword, boyo," asked one of the bandits as Anthony was having problems carrying the broadsword that they lent to him. He could tell that he was being used as humorous entertainment as some of the spectators were laughing. The sword was about twenty times the weight of the katana he had bought a few days ago and it was now in Shared's tent since he suggested working up on carrying swords that were heavy. That way, he will be able to use any weapon just in case he doesn't have his trusty katana.

His opponent, who was rather tall and had a rifle strapped to his back, looked really bored as he was leaning on the sword he had in his hand. His right palm was on the hilt as he said to Shared who was with the spectators, "Are you really sure you don't want to give him a wooden sword, boss?" Everyone chuckled as Anthony glared up at him. Shared just shook his head as he said, "I suggest that you guys just let the boy practice on his own."

"Gosh, boss, we ain't gonna kill the poor kid," said a really buff man with a receding hairline and an eye patch on his left eye. Everyone then stared at him with disbelief as he interjected on why he was suddenly the center of attention. Shared sighed as he then took his henchman's place in front of Anthony. Anthony stared in shock and a bit of fear as Shared held the blade and pointed it toward him. "I'm beginning to think that it was a better idea to take Allen as an apprentice instead of you," Shared said plainly. Oddly, Anthony took that to the heart as he then lifted the sword a bit as he charged at the man, dragged the blade on the ground.

He brought up the blade and swung it horizontally as Shared then blocked it easily. Anthony's sword fell to the floor as he then left it there. Slightly surprised, Shared saw that Anthony was going to spear tackle him. Smirking at the attack, Shared was able to counter attack it by grabbing the front of the blonde's sweater and pulled him off. Caught off from the ground, Anthony then was thrown to the ground hard. He heard people laugh and say random comments on how he was just owned as pain echoed through his shoulder blades. Groaning in pain, he slowly got up as Shared just stood over him with an aura of that radiated from the sun's rays. "Gloat why don't ya?" Anthony said as he then grabbed the offered hand from the bandit leader.

He laughed as he then said, "Well, I should have known you would have done something like that, kid."

When Anthony felt a sudden sadness, he heard the men still laughing as he shouted for them to be silent. As some of them "oh"ed at him, his original opponent said, "You should send him to Wolf. He'll probably get this boy trained while you go on with whatever that old hag told you to do, boss."

Obviously they were talking about Theresa and Shared had already told them about the little job that Theresa had told him to do. Slightly irritated by the reminder, he then told Anthony to head off and find Wolf. As everyone went on to whatever they needed to do, Anthony was left alone in the sparring circle with a blank stare on his face. After several minutes of standing, he then asked, "Who the fuck is Wolf?"

**Lisa: If there's anyone here who had read my first Jak story, they might know who this is...**

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"What the hell... is that?" Tuck asked as he stared at the chicken suit that one of the teenagers was wearing. Allen gave him a look of disbelief as he said, "You don't remember the plan?"

The bandit began to shout as they were safely hidden in the back street near the stonecutter's wagon, "**Of course I know the plan, and it's obviously a stupid one!**" The other two looked a bit annoyed as the one in the chicken suit was eating some kind of sweet candy that Allen had bought for him. Apparently, he was the only one that didn't want cash.

"**And why the hell does he hate money? He can buy all the candy he wants with money!**" Tuck shouted as he pointed accusingly at the chicken-wearing man. Allen just shrugged as he then said, "Okay, let's go over this one more time."

Everyone huddled near him as he went to the dirt, making several letters and lines. "Team A will circle around and initiate the first part of the plan as Team B will then spring the trap. Team T will then enter in and commence the final part of the plan." As everyone nodded their heads, Tuck didn't and said, "Why are we doing this again?"

"You love her don't you?" Allen said, nearly scaring the older male who nodded his head in a slow pace. Smiling at this, he then said, "Then we shall initiate Operation Chicken Kicker." As everyone nodded, Tuck then said, "Maybe I should be the one who names the plans, okay?" Allen just shook his head in disagreement as Tuck then saw that the other three were gone. Glancing around, he was then pushed forward into the Town Square as all the occupants were shopping or conversing with one another as they seem to always do every day.

He watched as Sparrow finally got her pay for the day as she looked at all the gold in her hand. She then placed it in her bag that was tied to her belt and turned to leave when the Chicken suit appeared in front of her. Tuck watched as she just looked surprised at first while just standing and looking at the stupid dance that the man was doing in the suit. Allen was standing with him as he was ready to fall down laughing when suddenly, one of the guards spear tackled the chicken suit wearer to the ground, surprising nearly everyone. The other two somehow disappeared while the man in the suit was being dragged and read his rights. Allen just looked shocked while Tuck just stared on at the man getting dragged off. Turning to look at the gawking teenager, he then asked, "Was there enough candy for him to **actually get arrested?**"

Noticing the anger, Allen glared at him and said, "How the fuck was I supposed to know that this kind of thing was a disturbance to the peace?"

Rolling his eyes, he walked away and toward the inn, wanting to get a drink before he gets dragged into another stupid scheme. As he walked away, he heard Allen shout at him, nearly destroying their main reason of the plan. "**You were supposed to save her if she was afraid of chickens! You know that, right?**" Tuck just dropped his shoulders as he entered the inn with an embarrassed look and sat at the bar, asking for a pint of ale.

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It was now night time on his first day at the camp, and Anthony had finally found the tent of the man named Wolf. Slightly wondering why a person would name themselves after animals, his thoughts went back to Sparrow, which caused him to shut himself up. Knowing well not to piss off the past self of his friend, even though she wasn't around, he entered the tent to find that it was rather empty except for a mat and a large collection of swords, axes, and hammers in the far end of the tent. It was quite large so anyone could just run around here without worrying about hitting the middle pole that held it up high.

He then heard a rustle as he turned around, seeing no one outside of the tent except for a man walking by, most likely heading for dinner. He then went to focus his attention on the large weapons that seemed to be just sitting there, waiting for someone to grab them. He then saw a katana amongst them. It had a red handle with a really sharp long blade. It seemed to glimmer in the candlelight that illuminated the tent. Looking around and then quickly checking outside to see if there was anyone still around, he quickly went back in and walked toward the weapon. As he reached for the long sword, another one with claws suddenly grabbed his hand. Turning around, he saw a young man, probably Shared's age range, with grey hair and blue eyes. He then also saw that the man was wearing some kind of cap that was similar to his beanie.

Feeling that blood wasn't circulating through his right hand, he quickly jerked his hand away and grabbed the katana, aiming the edge of the blade to the man's throat. He had to lift a bit higher since the man was the same height as Shared too. The man just stared down at him as he then smirked, showing that he had sharp teeth like a canine. "You smell familiar," he stated, catching the blonde off guard. "Have we met before?"

Anthony shook his head as the man just shrugged his shoulders. The man then smirked and said, "I bet you aren't from this area."

Not sure how to answer, Anthony said, "Well, I'm for sure wasn't raised up as a bandit, considering what I'm wearing." He pointed at his beanie and his hoodie sweater. The man laughed as he then said, "No, I meant that you aren't from this time period or maybe not from this world." Anthony could tell he was trying to suppress the smirk as the man hid the nail on the head. How the hell does he...

He then picked up the blade again and was ready to slice the man when he ducked and upper cut into his gut. Unable to block, Anthony took the full attack as he then started to fall unconscious. Falling forward into the dirt ground, the man stood up to stare down at the limp figure. He then heard a foot tapping as he turned around, seeing Shared glaring at him.

"That was unnecessary, Wolf," the leader bandit said as he walked toward the limp figure. Wolf just shrugged his shoulders as he pulled off his cap, revealing a pair of canine ears on top. "The kid just smelled familiar is all... I didn't think he was gonna try to kill me and all that."

Shared shook his head as he carried the boy bridle style and placed him on the bed before turning to Wolf and said, "You do have the odd tendency to be a bit intimidating by just staying silent or just staring." Wolf just shrugged his shoulders again as he picked up the fallen blade and placed it back in its original spot. Turning to look at the unconscious boy, he said to Shared, "You had better get him something to eat since I heard that you didn't let him have a single bite during the so-called training you were giving him."

The leader bandit just laughed and left the tent, leaving the unconscious teenager alone with Wolf. He turned to look at the sleeping boy as he narrowed his eyes, thinking back to the familiar scent that emitted from the boy's body. "Does he know her?" he asked himself as he then chose to find the answer another time, going back to his meditating that was interrupted when Anthony entered the room.

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Allen was sitting with the two others as they kept pestering him and blaming him for their friend's recent arrest. Apparently, they had hired a man who had robbed candy stores and attack traders selling food before this whole incident. Sighing at this recent information that would have been useful earlier when he recruited their help, he apologized and promised to get their friend out of jail. He then glanced to see Tuck drinking at the bar, sitting on a stool as he was leaning on the counter, chatting with the owner of the bar.

The ninja then left the table and plopped himself on a stool next to the man and whispered, "So, got any life stories you want to tell, drinking buddy?" As he noticed the bartender going toward him, he asked for a cup of ale. Once the bartender went off to do what he was paid to do, Allen turned and waited for Tuck to say a story.

He noticed the man glare at him and asked, "Do I look like a hermit to you?" Seeing that the ninja wouldn't leave until he said something about himself, he sighed and said, "I used to work as an assassin back at around... when I turned about ten years old."

"Dude, that's a lie," Allen blurted out, laughing at the weak attempt to make up a story from the older man before grabbing the placed cup and taking a large gulp from it. As he wiped the foam from his mouth, he noticed that Tuck was still staring at him with a blank face, showing no humorous features. He then realized that the man wasn't kidding around, making him silent.

Sensing that the younger male wouldn't interrupt him again or for probably another six minutes, he continued. "My father was a hit man for hire so that's how we made our living. At a very young age, he started training me brutally on styles that were foreign to the land of Albion. I guess that's one of the reasons why the Highwaymen took such an interest in us. They had us join their guild and kept on contracting us to kill many people. It didn't matter if the person was a corrupted upcoming candidate for mayor or just a lone villager who slept with the wrong wife, if their name was on the scroll; they were as good as dead."

He paused to take a long swig from his pint, and just sat there and stared at his drink. He watched the liquid swirl in the cup as silence flowed over them as other people's conversations occupied their ears again. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, he then asked, "What got you out of that business and into working for Shared boss man?" As if it was the keywords, Tuck snapped out of his trance and answered, "There was one mission four years ago. My father and I headed off to Bloodstone to kill another poor guy who slept with someone's lover."

"Man, everyone back then seriously just loved sleeping with someone else's wife," Allen commented.

"It was a man he had slept with, Allen," Tuck stated, getting the shocked look on his face. Slightly happy that he was able to shock the boy, he continued. "I was sent to scout first as my father headed off to find information on whatever he can on the man. It took nearly three days when he finally found our man. Ironically, it was yet another corrupted mayor, but then again, who isn't corrupt in Bloodstone? As we started to stalk our target, I then noticed something a bit odd that contradicted the information my father had received. Apparently, there was a young girl with him. She would probably be two years old than me by now if I ever saw her again since she seemed to follow the man like a puppy."

_Sixteen-year-old Tuck stood on the rooftop of someone's house as he stared down at the narrow stairway, seeing the young woman in white speaking with their target. His father was on the opposite building._

_The man stared down at her as it seemed she was relaying him events on what was going on with the exports and imports of the port. As he watched the exchange between the two, he then noticed the girl smile and ask something, but he couldn't hear what it was. The man didn't comment as he walked away, saying something on the lines of not having time for such nonsense. He was expecting the girl to run off crying or look at least sad, but instead she smiled and said, "I'll see you later then."_

_As he watched the man walk away, leaving her alone on the stairs, he turned to see if his father was going to follow him. However, he was currently staring at the girl who was about to make her way down the stairs. Not sure what was going on, he froze as his father jumped down to block the young woman's way, catching her by surprise. Tuck quickly followed to jump down, block the other way but he stepped forward when his father pushed the woman to the ground._

"_Father, what are you doing?" he shouted as he watched him grab the girl's arm, seeing the fear in her eyes. The man looked up at him and said, "We could use her as a lure for the man. It's obvious that there is a connection between them."_

"_Are you insane? Do you not remember what you have taught me?" Tuck retaliated, glaring at his father as he watched him yank the girl up, causing her to yelp in pain. He heard a loud jingle as he noticed a rather large cat collar around the girl's neck with a large bell. "You told me to not involve any innocent bystanders in any mission. No matter what happens, just kill the target and no one else."_

"_You think this girl is innocent?" his father shouted at him as he tried to snatch the small large hat that would be similar to Anthony's if he had met him that time. As he watched his father try to yank it off, the girl held on to it tight, keeping it close to her head. Just as it seemed his father was going to succeed, Tuck tackled him down, causing the hat to fall along with them. Tuck felt the world spin as he soon reached the Waterfront with his father cursing at him. He tried to stand up as he saw his father pull out his knife, stalking toward him._

_Just as he was about to see his father charge at him, a loud gunshot was heard as he turned back to the stairs to see the target just staring down at him, his pistol smoking._

"Did… did he kill you?" Allen asked, getting a narrowed eyed glare from Tuck as he sarcastically replied, "Yeah, I'm just a living dead guy that got reanimated by a douche bag of a grave keeper at the cemetery." He nearly fell out of his chair when it seemed that Allen looked like he believed it. He continued to glare at him as he said, "No, he didn't kill me, but it was kind of odd that he didn't." Once he knew that Tuck wasn't going to speak anymore, he looked over his shoulder and saw Sparrow standing behind them with a shocked look. Smirking for no reason, he tapped on Tuck's shoulder to have him look behind him. Once he turned, he became a babbling idiot as he saw Sparrow just staring at him. Knowing that he wasn't need, he went outside after accidentally bumping into Sparrow's right side to see the two teenagers including their chicken-suit wearing friend. Behind them were the two guards that had arrested said chicken suit wearing man as he took out the bag of money he had taken from Sparrow as he took out a couple of gold coins and handed it to them.

The girl shook her head as she said for everyone, "It was actually fun to help out. I'm surprised that guy was a son of an assassin." The boy next to her nodded her head in agreement as their chicken friend took off his hat, letting some of the feathers to flow in the wind. The sheriff agreed as he then spoke to the chicken wearing man about how he was going to let him off easy this one time. Allen turns to look at the bar to see that the two were looking as if they were on a date. Chuckling slightly, he then heard something in the back of his.

"_Allen, I need you here at the Guild. I must inform something to you and Hanna,_" he heard Theresa say as he looked around frantically until he realized that the voice was the one that Anthony seemed to complain about a few days ago. Not wanting to have to deal with a cranky old woman that he had heard about, he headed to Bower Lake to find the Guild.

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After ten days of training, Anthony was now sparring with the man he had tried to fight with in the beginning, starting to get through his defenses. The other bandits watched in awe as the blonde kept on swinging the light wooden sword. It seemed like a blur as he kept on parrying against the weapon until he swung upward, sending the other's weapon into the air. He snapped the sword on his hand as the man flinched in pain. Glaring at Anthony, the young teenager smirked as every gasping or cheering. One man actually said that the guy was going easy on him. Anthony glared at that one man as he wiped the sweat off his head and went over to the branch that had his sweater and beanie.

He turned to see Wolf smirking and Shared laughing at how some of the moves seemed a bit comical. Shared then congratulated the boy and said, "I can't believe you are advancing a bit faster than some of our best fighters, and it took them at least a couple of weeks to even get to where you are now." Anthony felt a bit prideful as he said, "Well, I'm the best there is." He heard Wolf laugh at his comment as he glared at the man as he then asked, "You remember what you said a couple days ago? The part with that I… smelled familiar?" Wolf lost the humorous attitude as he stared at Anthony, mentally hoped that he had forgotten those words and that moment.

Anthony was just happy that he didn't get raped and woke up in his own tent and his clothes still on, even though he had to wash them since he wore them more than seven days straight with also the fact that it had been covered with dirt and soaked in water. He waited for Wolf to answer as he then said, "Well, you can say that I'm like you… that I'm from around… here." Anthony quickly knew what he meant as he watched Shared just walk away. Unaware what was going on, Anthony heard Wolf continue.

"Have you hung around a young female named… Lisa?" he asked. When Anthony just looked shock, Wolf knew the answer immediately and said, "I… met her in some other world that she and a couple of her friends went to. I… regret about all the trouble I had caused her."

"Have you ever tried to say you're sorry or something?" Anthony stated as he then quickly asked a question that hit his head at that moment. "Wait! You can travel through time?"

Unfazed by the shouting, Wolf answered calmly, "I'm sorry but I was **born**__into this world like how I've always done. I just get to keep my memories of my previous life… where ever the last life was before." Seeing that Anthony didn't seem to understand what he said, he told him to forget about it and just for him to ask forgiveness from the girl. The blonde nodded his head in understanding as they turned to see Shared, looking as if he had heard the best news in his life. "Looks like two of our friends have gotten together," Shared commented, causing Wolf to shake his head while Anthony just looked clueless.

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"Say what?!" Anthony said as he gawked at Sparrow and Tuck who were holding hands in front of him. The blonde just stared at him with a shocked look while Shared just smiled at this. A small crowd of people were cheering for the new couple as Sparrow had become a bit more famous since the Rookridge Bridge incident. Tuck laughed nervously while Sparrow had pulled her hoodie over her head, trying to cover the blushing look on her face.

Anthony was slightly panicking until he realized about Francy's crush on a Red vs. Blue character named Tucker. He mentally laughed at his friend at how this outcome had happened. He then looked at Tuck and asked, "How the hell did this happen, dude?" Tuck just glared at him as he sighed and said, "I told you, my name isn't 'dude'. It's Tuck. **Get it right, blast it!**" Chuckling at this, he then heard the story from Tuck who was speaking in a very mad tone. When the name "Allen" came up, Anthony stopped him for a second as he asked, "Where the heck is wannabe ninja anyway?"

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"Fuck!" Allen cursed as he had fallen on the floor for what felt like the tenth time. Hannah was apologizing while Theresa seemed to be unpleased. The old woman walked toward the man and waited until he stood up as she said, "You have to be willing to work together willingly and have at least a small amount of pride, young man."

Allen glared at the woman as he shouted, "That might work for Anthony since he did it in his first try and made a man fry to his bones in one shot! And how is it that I'm her keeper?" Sensing that the woman might feel a bit hurt by those words, he quickly said, "No offense, Hammer." The woman didn't take it to her heart as she readied herself just in case he was going to do it again. Allen turned back his attention to the old woman to continue his ranting.

"Do you really expect that I can create a dead guy in mid air?" Allen complained. "I never even knew I could even do this until I tried to shake hands with the damn blonde."

"You are her Keeper, Allen," she reminded him as he just grumbled in anger. "You, and only you, can do this with her. Anyone else could just lead to very disastrous results." After a couple of minutes of silence, he then said, "Fine, but if we can't do it, then you better find yourself a different Keeper." He watched Theresa walk out of the way while Hannah had her hammer up. Anthony took a couple of steps before speeding toward her as a ninja would. He then jumped when he was about two yards in front of her, soaring through the air. Hannah raised her hammer as Allen landed on the top of it when it was lifted upward. He stood on the back of it as Hannah started to bring it back down.

At this part, Allen would have to have a really strong grip or else he would be sent flying again. However, he held on to the leather strap that held the hammer together as he saw his hand start to emit a cloud of smoke. It began to surround the hammer as it connected to the floor, making numerous flashes of light appear that were quickly replaced with Hollow men. Seeing that they had accomplished it, Allen shouted in happiness as he then felt Hannah hug him. The girl was obviously super strong as he felt his bones starting to crack under the pressure.

Theresa watched the two in a small sense of accomplishment as she then sensed something tugging in the back of her mind. Closing her blind eyes, she was surrounded by a dark abyss as she felt Shared's presence behind her. "I have found some information on your second hero, Granny." Ignoring the comment, she nodded her head and informed him to bring Sparrow and Anthony to return to the Guild. She opened her blind eyes to see Allen snapping at Hannah who was trying her best to apologize to the man.

**To Be Continued…**

**Izzy: Lisa's busy with work so I'm doing the review reply and stuff.**

**Black-Dove15: Thanks for the review. Anthony is a bit of a noob since he had only recently heard about the Fable games and started playing them.**

**UltimaKeyMaster: LOL wow... a Metal Gear reference that we didn't notice! LOL Anyways thanks for the review.**

_Please review and reply. We'll try to update as fast as we can._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6  
The Hero of Will, Meeting a Will Apprentice, and More Time Travelers **

_Two hours after "rape ninja" attacks..._

It took them nearly three hours as they were standing on the sidewalk, facing at Anthony's house. Elias had over heard about the blonde agreeing to try out the game and saw him shout at his mom to take him to Game Stop. Not wanting to go by himself or get lost alone, he dragged Jonnathan and Marcos along for the walk.

Elias is a freshman and had short red hair that occasionally covered his brown eyes and had freckles over his facial features. He was currently wearing a striped sweater that was unzipped over a black Nike 6.0 shirt. He had blue baggy jeans that dragged almost underneath his Nike 6.0 p-rods shoes.

Jonnathan is a junior in high school and had brown short hair that was a bit wavy and wore black-rimmed glasses over his brown eyes. He wore a black sweater with a hoodie that was also unzipped, revealing a white T-shirt with blurred out words including a DC design in the middle of the chest area. His gray jeans were baggy as well as they sagged a bit, nearly covered his black Vans shoes.

The last one and shortest of the three was another junior in high school named Marcos. He had short spiky black hair and brown eyes. He wore a dark orange turtleneck sweater over a black T-shirt. He wore a pair of light brown cargo pants and a pair of black and white Converse shoes. Marcos groaned in anger as his feet were starting to give before he collapsed on the floor, almost unconscious. Jonnathan wasn't caring much as he was too tired of nearly chasing and running around the neighborhood several times. He was angrier that Elias actually found the house when they didn't even know where Anthony lived.

However, when Jonnathan tried to glare at his friend and say a very pissed off remark, he saw that Elias was smirking and stared triumphantly at the house. Not sure if he should ask, he said, "Uh... what the hell are you happy about?" Elias turned his gaze to Jonnathan as he then pumped his arm in the air and announced, "Because that punk obviously bought the game today! I just know it!" He then reached into his own pants pocket and pulled out what looked like one of those memory cards for the 360 and held it in his face. "And with my help, he can finish this game in a matter of hours!"

Jonnathan gawked at him as he then snapped in anger, "**Is this why we had to nearly walk three hours around this damn neighborhood?! Just so you can play co-op on an adventure RPG?!**"

Elias just laughed nervously as he headed for the front door, readjusting his strap of his backpack. Jonnathan followed suit in an angry stride while dragging the almost unconscious Marcos whose backpack was being dragged behind him. Once they reached the steps, Elias was just about to knock on the door when his right hand barely tapped it with the knuckles, causing it to swing open inward. He glanced over to his friends as Marcos was now standing on his own feet. As if suddenly being the one in charge, Jonnathan nodded to Elias to open the door fully as the red head pushed it, revealing a very dark aura releasing from the room. Elias slightly cringed as the aura seemed to punch through him like a bullet as he nearly fell forward. Jonnathan passed by him as he entered the house, and nearly tripped on something as he stumbled a bit.

Marcos peeked over Elias' shoulder to see that the house was indeed dark. "Maybe... we should come back tomorrow," he said. Elias just stared at him from over his shoulder as he said, "Tomorrow is Saturday and I have to go out for the weekend. And I might as well give up once we leave if we don't get inside this house." Elias just glared at him as he then charged into the house, nearly bumping into Jonnathan as the older teenager tried to head back outside as the freshman declared, "If we don't know what the source of **this** is, then we can't leave until we ask Anthony about it!"

Jonnathan withheld the urge to punch the boy as he then noticed the true look of the house; it was trashed. If it weren't such a big mess, Jonnathan would have probably seen the original look of the house before its current state. A flower vase was scattered and broken on the floor as the water and flowers were splattered on the floor. The couch was flipped over as some picture frames were cracked and broken on the floor as only one hanged on the wall. As Elias and Marcos finally entered the house, the door suddenly shut behind them, which caused everyone to jump, yelp, and gasp at the movement.

"It's a fuckin' ghost, man!" Marcos shouted as he then declared in desperation. "**I'm getting out of here now!**"

"Wait for me!" Jonnathan agreed as he followed the short Mexican towards the door. Elias wasn't sure if he should be humored or worried for his friends as he then noticed suddenly get dark behind the now closed curtains of the windows. He was about to check what happened to the light outside when he heard the door open and the distant yelling of his two friends. Running towards the door, he stopped himself as he held on to the doorframe and saw only what looked like something out of Yu-Gi-Oh's version of the Shadow Realm. He then also caught a glimpse of two figures slowly becoming smaller and smaller, their voices fading. "Hey guys!" he shouted then immediately slapped his head as he then began to debate whether or not to follow.

A thud made him jump as he slowly turned his head to see some shadow beginning to form into mass. Once they shadows took form, he quickly recognized them as Spire Guards from the Fable 2 game. He then heard a loud shout as he turned to look over at the couch to see a Spire Guard about to charge at him. Completely cut off guard, Elias just stood there in shock until a figure jumped in front of him and shouted out some word. The Spire Guard was then blown back to the other side of the room as the stuff on the floor seemed to fly away; making like a circular formation in the middle of the air in the direction the Spire Guard was thrown.

Elias didn't get a good look on his savior when the man barked at him to get out of house. Without his own will, the man kicked him out of house and into the dark abyss.

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_Meanwhile in the Guild Cave..._

"Dude, warn us if you try to summon the living dead in here, okay?" Anthony demanded as he was huffing and puffing from the surreal experience just minutes ago. Sparrow was trying her best not to laugh at her Keeper while Allen just sat on the wooden table with an unsatisfied look in his eyes. He had really wanted to see Anthony fall off and into the dark abyss below after trying to attempt on killing all of the undead that he had just summoned, but after Theresa ordered him to release his hold on them, he was now moping.

Hannah was giggling at the reaction as she was trying to fall on the floor and laugh at the poor boy. Along with the five, Shared stood near Theresa, as he was ready to report on what his bandits have learned about the next hero they had to find.

"I think our next hero is some mage that lives in Brightwood," Shared said as everyone was focused on him. "His name is kind of weird since my men can't even remember what it was. They said it rhymed with 'barf' or maybe his name's Carth."

"The man would most likely be named Garth," Theresa spoke for him. Anthony then noticed Sparrow's body freeze, as if she had recognized that name. He wasn't the only one as he noticed Theresa looking at the girl and said, "Do you remember that name? He was there that night Lucien killed your sister." At the mention of that, Hannah beat the blonde to the words he was going to say as she said, "Oh great, then how can we trust him?" Allen voiced out his agreement as well when Shared said, "Even if he was one of Lucien's lackeys, there must be a reason why he isn't at that Spire and staying in this huge tower that my men found."

"Garth believed Lucien's interest in the Old Kingdom was purely academic like his own," Theresa began to explain as if she knew the reason. "And Lucien, for his part, thought Garth was merely a brilliant scholar. When each learned the truth about the other, their partnership ended... violently." Allen whistled in surprise and said, "Not surprised since that old man left the evil bad king." Sparrow looked at Allen with confusion who brushed it off quickly, saying it was just the first thing that came to his mind.

"Guy must be rich if you make that kind of expression," Anthony commented on his mentor's words, as Shared seemed to make a gesture of height. "So, we should get going. Let's head out, guys!" Allen glared at him and said, "I don't remember anyone electing you as leader." Anthony glared back at him as he folded his arms and just smirked at the ninja. "I'm just suggesting, you fucking idiot!"

Back in his own time, he would actually feel sorry for saying those words to his friend. However, Allen just only had the appearance of his friend, not the personality, so he wouldn't feel too much guilt or regret it badly… or would he? Anthony shook it off as Shared said, "We may need to hurry since we've received movement that some floating boulders are heading for the tower."

"But I must stress that Hannah and Allen must stay behind," Theresa said, making everyone stare at her with a slight shock. "Why the hell can't we have their help?" Anthony demanded as he then pointed his finger at Hannah. "She can probably knock down half of those rape ninjas by the time we even take down one!" He was about to continue his ranting when Shared said, "Lucien's men are still looking for her and most likely are heading for this Garth too. We can't have her walking around and sticking out like a sore thumb."

After fuming for a few minutes, he heard Hannah voice out both of their resignations of the problem, "Fine then, but don't think you'll hold me back when the action starts." She then turned to look at him and Sparrow as she said in a sad tone, "Looks like you're on your own then." She then headed off to the insides of the Old Tomb as Allen stayed behind. He then said to them, "You better make this happen quickly, you hear? I, too, don't like being held back when something fun happens."

"You call killing rape ninjas fun?" Anthony said as then Shared scolded him in an irritated tone. "They are called _Spire Guards_, Anthony… not _rape ninjas_." Waving off the comment, Anthony then turned to Theresa as then said, "Go now."

"Don't have to tell us twice, lady," Anthony joked as he gave a mock salute and headed toward the Cullis Gate with Doogal and Sparrow following.

_One day later…_

The two soon entered into the territory of Brightwood as the darkness of night covered their forms. Only a few travelers and a guard stood in the road as they continued the direction of the tall tower that was seen above the tree line. "This Garth guy sure likes to live like a king," Anthony said as he followed while staring at the tower, ignoring the fact that Doogal was sitting on his head yet again. "But he could at least add some more… I don't know… pizzazz to it since he's a magician and all that." Sparrow just shook her head at her companion's comment as they soon reached the gates that surrounded the outside of the tower. Looking around for a way in since it was locked; she then noticed movement far off into the woods behind the gate. Obviously Anthony had seen too since he took out his Iron Katana out. She took out her Flintlock pistol that she had purchased at the Bowerstone Market that day she got with Tuck, causing her to slightly blush at the thought.

Anthony had looked down at her at that moment as he let out an irritated groan while the dog barked happily for his master. Anthony then said, "Aw for crying out loud! Can we not have you thinking about the pervert before we go off to get this guy?" She gave him a confused look as Anthony soon realized that Tuck in this time wasn't the same personality as the sick minded guy he had watched on the show from Rooster Teeth.

Telling her to forget about what he said, he then noticed that there was a latch at the very top of the gate, seemingly out of reach even for the tallest of bandits he had met back at Shared's camp. Thanking that the bars weren't slippery since there wasn't any rain at the moment, he first placed the dog down on the ground then climbed up the bars until he reached the top of the arch-shaped gate. It took some reaching and maneuvering his body until he unlatched the door, letting out a small shout of victory. However, the door swung inwards as he then felt his grip loosen and he was sent flying into a bush that was about several yards from the gate.

Sparrow headed towards her Keeper as Doogal scurried toward him to see if he was alright when they were quickly ambushed by a group of Hobbes. One nearly hammered down on Anthony, but he quickly rolled out of the bush and swung his katana, slicing off the Hobbe's hand. As it ran off while holding the bleeding arm, Sparrow shot at a Hobbe that looked like it was trying to do a summon spell, killing it with a headshot. This caused the other Hobbes to try and run away, but Anthony and Sparrow didn't take any chances of them changing their minds as they were killed off the rest. Once Anthony stabbed downward on the last Hobbe, Sparrow placed her gun away and said, "Looks like we just showed our presence." Confused on what she meant, she pointed over to the sky to show some kind of floating downward-pyramid shaped boulder that was headed for the tower. He then felt Doogal once again climb on to his head and cling to his beanie.

Cursing out a word that meant "poop", Anthony followed Sparrow as they ran toward the tower. They were able to reach it the same time of the large boulder when it suddenly was letting out a stream of white lightening just about a few yards in front of them. Sparrow took out her gun again while Anthony held the katana like he had been taught by Wolf as figures started to appear from the lightening. They didn't have time to react as Spire Guards appeared from the streaming light and charged at them. Sparrow was able to take down one of the five with three shots as Anthony charged forward with a battle cry and parried with one of the guards. He noticed that another guard was about to stab at him as Sparrow shot that man in the head, sending the man flying from not being ready to take the fatal blow. Anthony swiftly lifted his blade and shoved his katana into the guard's stomach, leaving only two left to kill.

Make that one as the other one somehow disappeared. Anthony and Sparrow didn't take time to wonder as the Spire Guard was about to shoot one of them with his own pistol. Anthony watched Sparrow swiftly lift her gun and pulled the trigger, taking the final shot quickly and with grace as the man just stood there when the bullet hit his heart. Once his body flopped downward the stairs, the two quickly ran up them to hurry and rescue Garth as it seemed that the downward pyramid was ready to summon more Spire Guards.

As they were ready to enter the tower, the last Spire Guard that was summoned somehow appeared out of nowhere and brought down his Cutlass, separating the two as they jumped out of the way in time. Sparrow attracted his attention by shooting at him and purposely missing. The man didn't know as he held up his arm in front of his face, as if he was summoning some invisible force field. He didn't see Anthony charging at him but turned when the blonde got too close. He had his Cutlass ready as he was about to parry the anticipated sword attack when Anthony jumped up on his sword and palmed his face. Anthony pushed off as he flipped over him, not noticing that he had grabbed the man's mask off his face.

As the blonde landed on the ground behind the guard and realized this, Anthony quickly turned around to see the man's face. Much to his surprise, the man's face resembled Bryan, one of his friend's buddies in high school. It also surprised him that the man did indeed have the same physique as Bryan, tall and a bit skinny. However, the only difference between the Bryan he knew and the one he is seeing right now was the ultimate rage in his eyes. The brown haired man looked like he was ready to kill, which he would if he wasn't just standing there and glaring at him. He wasn't sure what to do as the man was ready to charge at him when he held up his sword to block the bullet that was aimed for his chest. Anthony snapped from his unfocused mind as he heard Sparrow shout at him to get moving while she charged at guard, taking out a Steel Longsword and started fighting him in close combat.

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"Why did we follow you in the first place?" Marcos asked as they were still falling in the abyss which felt like forever as Marcos was laying casually bored while looking upward at the nothingness. Jonnathan was sitting Indian-style as he took off his glasses to check if there was any dirt on them before replying, "No one was at the video store, I had no money, Elias suggested to help him find the house... do I need to make a timeline for you, Squirrel?" The short Mexican stuck his tongue out at him before turning to Elias who was upside down with his arms crossed. "Well, how do you think we are going to get out of this?"

Elias didn't answer as he looked at the man who had pushed him into the abyss with his friends, seeing the older man smoking a cigarette as his grey hair was being blown upward. He wore a grey business man suit, a black button collared shirt, and a red tie. Jonnathan then asked for him, "Who the heck are you? I get the feeling I've seen you before." The man looked up for a few seconds to stare at the glasses wearing junior before closing his eyes to ignore him again. Jonnathan felt insulted as he was ready to shout at the older male when Marcos shouted in surprise, "Dude! I know him! He's... like Lisa's bodyguard or something like that." The other two guys looked at him with surprise as Marcos then explained, "You seriously don't pay attention whenever she leaves, do you Jonn?" The glasses wearing teen just shrugged his shoulders and confessed, "She always heads out whenever it's my turn to play Tekken 6." Marcos let out an exasperated sigh as he continued, "Francy told me during Digital Art class about something happening to Lisa's family, thus she had to move to Florida during the last school year. I heard she then got a new father and then came back here, living at her old house."

Jonnathan then stood as best as he could since they were still falling as he agreed, "Oh yeah! I remember something about that. That guy sure can convince anyone! I bet you he's some big mob guy or something, probably yakuza since he looks Japanese." Elias then twitched as he knew that comment would get Jonnathan killed if the man wasn't ignoring him or if he cared at the moment as he turned to look at him. He was about to say something when suddenly cold air started to blow against their bodies, still falling. Elias looked toward the direction they were falling and noticed that they were now above a ground... that they were about to hit in just a minute or two. His eyes widened in fear as Marcos and Jonnathan looked down too and saw their predicament. They all screamed in fear while the man just stayed the way he was, ignoring the fact as his cigarette flew out of his mouth.

-+-+-+-

Anthony was ready to head inside with Sparrow's distraction in place he heard something far above him. He slowly looked up and saw four... he didn't know what they were but he knew where they were headed. He shouted to Sparrow, but she didn't hear him as she kept on contacting her sword with the Bryan look-alike. After trying everything to catch her attention, he groaned in anger as he charged at the girl and spear tackled her away from the man. Both seemed surprised by that action as Sparrow started to snap at him and even slapped him across his face. He ignored the pain as he then pointed upward and then forcing her to look up. Her eyes widened that now there wasn't the four figures that Anthony saw, but some kind of clear sphere that had the features of a soap bubble that quickly squashed the guard, leaving only a splatter of blood underneath the bubble.

The blonde kept the vomit that threaten to come out of his mouth controlled as the dust cleared and the bubble faded away, revealing four figures inside. Three of them looked like they belonged to this world while the fourth one, a tall and adult-looking male, wore a grey business suit. There were three other males with him, giving off a familiar aura around them. He quickly hushed Doogal who was barking at them, but it sounded like a happy one instead of a threatening one.

The first one he saw the shortest of the three, wearing some kind of mask that resembled General Grievous from Star Wars. Some of the guy's grayish hair overlapped the mask, showing that it was at least shoulder length. He also wore brown chest armor over an orange turtleneck sleeveless shirt that was over a tight black long sleeved villager's shirt. The shirt was a bit long as it gave off like a tunic style as a dark brown sash was tied around the waist. He wore light grey tights for the legs as they were tucked underneath boots with shin padding tied over them. He only saw them when the guy lifted the black cape and hoodie upward as if to inspect his own being.

The second was a man also had a black cape with a hoodie which was lifted up to show him wearing something like the main character from Assassin's Creed but it was black. There was also weights on his forearms and shins which were obviously heavy as the man nearly fell downward. However, his eyes were covered to keep his identity from him.

Anthony was becoming a bit irritated as he then looked at the last of the three, hoping to at least find out who had just killed Bryan's past self... or was it actually him?

The third one wore a black based Highwayman coat with a village dress shirt underneath that was similar to the one that was seen on the cover of the game. He also saw that he were fingerless gloves that were similar to the assassin ones. His legs were covered with a pair of black Highwayman pants and a pair of boots that were similar to the Spire Guards. However, the face was what he concentrated the most as the red hair was quite familiar.

"Elias?" he questioned, catching the teenager's attention. Everyone nearly froze in place, each with their own reasons except for the teenager boys as they all stared at each other. "Dude... you look the same since this afternoon," he heard the short one speak, revealing that it was Marcos. As he figured out the two, he then pointed at the last of three with an interrogative look as the teenager pointed at himself and said, "It's me, Jonnathan." Anthony froze at realizing that these three were indeed his friends and was about to ask how they got here when he realized something.

"Hey!" he shouted, showing there was a hint of envy. "That's not fair!"

Sparrow wasn't sure what was going on and didn't know what to do until she heard a loud thunder up above. The fourth male that was obviously the oldest told the three to stay as he headed into the tower, causing the female to follow. Anthony quickly followed as well after making Doogal stay behind with his friends, not wanting to have to push all his anger on just them. Oddly enough, there was no Spire Guards on the bridge or up the stairs until they nearly reach the top, seeing it blocked with flaming furniture. The male was the first to reach it as he then stopped Sparrow from attempting to get past the flames. Anthony heard voices behind it, two of them; one sounded old while another sounded demonic. It didn't last long as he then heard no voices at all, followed by Theresa's in his mind.

"There was nothing you can do," she said as if to reassure the two. "That was Lucien's Commandant. And apparently, he controls a Shard, an Old Kingdom weapon of great power."

"Isn't that nice to know?" Anthony said as he headed back toward the entrance, knowing that it was most likely over for them. "I guess we're heading back to the Guild then?" Once the old woman gave a small grunt of approval, the three soon reached outside to an amusing sight. Marcos, Jonnathan, and Elias were searching around the surrounding area for something as Marcos said, "I'm not going crazy, right? I swear I heard that voice!"

"Dude, if we all heard it, then it was real," Elias said as he pushed around bushes. Anthony looked down at Doogal who was waiting patiently for his master and her Keeper. The blonde just laughed a bit as he bent down, giving the dog an easier way to get to his usual spot on the boy's frame as Anthony asked, "You guys heard an old lady's voice in your heads?" That surely stopped them as they looked at him and said, "You heard it too?"

"Um... yeah... that was Theresa," Anthony bluntly said as Sparrow suddenly asked, "So, I take it these are more of your friends from your village called _West_ _Covina_?"

"It's not necessarily a village, Sparrow," he said but stopped talking when he heard Elias gasp. When he turned to his friend, Elias suddenly announced, "**Dude!** Are we **in** the game? Tell me we are **in the game!** Oh man, that'll be **awesome** if we are in the game!" Before Elias could whoop in the obvious fact that he was right, Anthony corrected him with a small hesitation, "Actually... we're in the past..."

Elias froze while Marcos and Jonnathan stared at him with disbelief. Anthony then sighed and said, "I guess I have to explain what happened these past... what is it, almost two or three weeks now?" Sparrow nodded her head as they then decided to head back to the Guild. However, as they reached the gates that separated any outsiders, Anthony then shouted at the dark sky, "**Oh sure! You let them come here in clothes that will help them fit in while I'm stuck like a sore thumb?! You are one fucked up God!**" His friends laughed at him while Sparrow just looked at him with worry, mostly for the fact that her dog was now having a hard time since Anthony was staring upward and the older male was smoking a cigarette as they walked back to Bower Lake.

Unaware, they were being watched from afar as once they passed into road, a male teenager stepped out of the shadows to reveal that he wore a black mage's coat over a tight white shirt. He wore explorer pants that were tucked into ankle high boots. He narrowed his left eye while his right one remained empty with no sign of an eyeball inside as he then stared back up at the tower, like a person giving their last goodbyes to their home before he carefully followed them.

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

Note: I'm sorry if the ending gets a little fast paced, but I had to get this finished before today because the person that the main OC character is based on has moved to the other side of the freakin' country! Anyways, I'll still continue this so hope you enjoy it so far and continue to enjoy with the chapters to come!

**Chapter 7  
Road to Westcliff, the Crucible, and One Year**

"Whoa! Hold up, rewind, and pause!" Elias shouted as Anthony was almost finished with his small tale. "You're saying that we somehow got sent into the past that has the same kind of history that one of the most famous game companies have created which turns out to be real? And to top it off, you have the power over lightening?" The blonde nervously as he scratched the back of his head, unsure if it was just out of habit or it was the fleas that could have been from Doogal. "Look, it isn't that bad. I mean, at least you killed Bryan in a way."

"That would make you happy, not us," Jonnathan stated, watching Anthony drop his head in sadness, indicating that it was true. Then Jonnathan noticed that Allen was trying to look under his hood which caused the junior to quickly reach for his hood and pull it downward. Allen then scowled as he kept trying to see under the hood, slightly annoying Jonnathan. After a couple of minutes, Jonnathan then snapped and shouted, "**What the hell, Alvaro? You already know what I look like!**"

Allen stood up to show that he was as tall as him before the ninja replied; "Now I _know_ you and Anthony are from the same village. Who is this 'Alvaro' guy, anyways? The mayor of your village?" Elias slightly chuckled at that comment while Marcos just shook his head. Anthony then sighed once again and said, "He's Allen, not Alvaro. Like I said, Jonny, we are in the past."

"So it's happening again..."

Everyone, including Hannah and Theresa, stared at the man who seemed to be dressed out of place like Anthony but only he was in business attire. He tossed the cigarette that he had into the dark pit below as he said, "I believe none of you heard about the young girl's life in the past few years." Elias just shrugged, obviously being the newest friend that joined their group as Marcos, Anthony, and Jonnathan admitted to not really knowing much either. Sparrow stepped forward as she asked, "What is going on? The red head asked if he was in _the game_. And Anthony says that they are in _the past_. Which one is the truth?" The man then stood in a gentleman way, placing his hand on his own chest before bowing elegantly.

"My name is Yoshiaki Tachibana, but I'm also known as Nobutsuna Naoe. I have been hired as a bodyguard for the young girl since she was ten and even after her family's death." He stood up before continuing. "What the blond boy says is true; we are indeed from the future." The man's mouth closed at that one part as he looked at Anthony as his voice echoed through his mind. "_But I must stress if any of you four know the events that are to come, you must stay silent about them._" He noticed Elias about to speak when Marcos stepped on his foot, causing the red head to yelp and glare at the short teenager.

Hannah then stepped forward, standing with Sparrow, as she asked, "So then how did you boys come from the future?" Naoe shook his head and said, "I'm not really sure, but all I know is how to get back." Marcos then jumped to him, grabbed his hand and raised it as high as he could; only lifting it up to Naoe's eye level. "Well then, let's get back home to our time of MP3 players and anime!" The older male sighed as he pushed the Mexican boy's hand away and stated, "I can only back by _myself_, kid." He heard Jonnathan groan and cursed at the man. Naoe didn't care since the girl he was ordered to protect had always cursed at him nearly eight years ago.

"I'll make sure that this situation is revealed to her foster father," he promised. "There might be someone during that time that could bring you back home, but it will require patience." Just before anyone could even move, he slowly faded away until he wasn't even there anymore. It got really quiet at that moment as Anthony said to break the silence, "Doesn't it strike you odd?" This caused everyone to just look at him with a blank stare, obviously thinking that he had just asked a rhetorical question. He brushed it off and said, "I didn't mean the Yoshi guy, but how did the rape ninjas-"

"They are called Spire Guards, Anthony," Elias bluntly stated and interrupted, getting some awkward stares from everyone else. He saw them as he then stuttered, "I... uh... heard it on the way here..." Marcos and Jonnathan just shook their heads at the freshman as Sparrow just stared at him cautiously. Even though they have claimed to be Anthony's friends, she was a bit wary of them and the weirdly dressed man, but she stayed silent as Anthony said, "So what now? We can't just leave Garth. I mean, even if he was once one of Lucien's lackeys."

"Maybe I can be of assistance."

Everyone drew their weapons, excluding Marcos, Elias, and Jonnathan, as they all turned to look toward the portal. Standing there was a male teenager stepped out of the shadows to reveal that he wore a black mage's coat over a tight white shirt. He wore explorer pants that were tucked into ankle high boots. He narrowed his left eye while his right one remained empty with no sign of an eyeball inside as he continued to stare at them with a piercing gaze. As everyone strengthen their guard, the four future teenagers lowered their as the face was indeed familiar to all of them. "Ryan?" Marcos asked, getting everyone else to stare at him with disbelief. Theresa then spoke, "It may seem that even your friends may mistake other people's identity here, young man." Anthony shook it off as he decided to act like he didn't know the face as he then raised his katana at the teenager and stalked toward him while demanding, "How the hell did you get in here?"

The man smirked as he met Anthony halfway on the small path and said, "I'm just here with a little proposition." He stopped as he felt the blade on his neck as his left eye narrowed once again with a glint of amusement. "I saw you having some trouble trying to recruit that man who lived in the tower, and apparently, the Spire Guards got him with the fact that he isn't here."

"So I take it this guy isn't really Ryan," Elias bluntly whispered to Jonnathan who gave him a blunt stare and sarcastically replied, "No, really?"

The man then walked passed Anthony and stood in the center of the circle as he then said, "The name's Rook, and I guess I would like to help you... for the right price, of course." He then looked at Theresa and said, "It's been awhile, old lady." Anthony had joined up with the group again, standing with his friends with a wary look. He saw that Hannah and Allen had the same aura as well while Sparrow just seemed completely confused as she asked, "You know this person, Theresa?" The old woman smiled as she said, "He was a good friend, but could also be our enemy."

Rook looked hurt as he gave a sympathetic look and said, "Aw, old lady, you hurt my feelings! If you say anything more, I might as well continue helping Lucien with finding the last Hero." With those words, Rook quickly jumped out of the way as Hannah's hammer was now embedded at where he once stood. Her eyes were glaring as Allen then jumped from behind her and threw his knives at the man. Sparrow was just about to fire her own shots when Anthony stopped her. She turned to demand why when she saw that the man was just now floating in the air, including the knives that were still aimed at him but were still.

"Dude... that guy's like a magician," Elias heard Marcos said as the red head shook his head. His friends would be in for so many surprises. Rook slowly floated back to the ground as his boots touched the floor. He then smirked at everyone and said, "I could just kill you all, ending any trouble for Lord Lucien." That made everyone's guard up, including Marcos, Elias, and Jonnathan as Elias got into a fighting position similar to Leo from Tekken 6 while Marcos and Jonnathan had their fists up. Rook looked deeply amused as he then placed his hands on his sides as he said, "But then it would probably be boring, just like telling Lucien about Garth's whereabouts. There wasn't even much of a fight for me to get into for either side."

"Okay, he is for sure not the Ryan that I know," Anthony mentally noted as Ryan didn't act like an all time prick at all in the time he had gotten to know him. Rook then walked to stand with Theresa as he said to her, "I guess I'll have to help with you guys until I at least get Master Garth out of that sad excuse for a tower." Only Theresa smiled as she then said, "I'm welcome to acquire the help of the Hero of Will's keeper." Rook glared at her as he then said, "You're getting the wrong guy, old lady. I'm just the apprentice, not a Keeper." This caused Elias to question about the meaning of the word Keeper, causing Anthony to groan in frustration.

_**Four hours later...**_

After getting information from Shared about some tournament that was going on in Westcliff and that the winner goes to the Spire, Theresa had informed that Sparrow and Hannah would head to Westcliff. Apparently, Anthony chose to go along with them with Marcos and Jonnathan. Allen wanted to go as well, but Shared had informed him about a plot of an attack on the Temple of Light. Hannah was about to head off there when Theresa decided to let Rook join Allen on this task along with Elias. After giving them weapons that they were allowed to chose, both groups headed their own directions.

Sparrow was still laughing about how Tuck suddenly clung on to her, kissing her cheek, as he began saying sweet words to her about how he missed her so much. This caused Marcos and Jonnathan to blabber on about some show about two colored teams fighting each other, but she chose to ignore it as she told him about her latest mission. It wasn't a big surprise that he knew about it and understood, being that he was part of Shared's bandit gang. Apparently, Anthony's two friends also referred to him as the Gothic Robin Hood. She noted that if she ever went to where these people lived, she would indeed like to meet this Robin Hood.

They were now on the road called Bandit Coast. She had hoped that this territory belong to Shared, but he had informed her that the area belong to a group of Highwaymen, not really bandits. As they began walking through the cliff side road, Anthony noticed that the wooden doors were open with also spiked fences around the road. "Well isn't that really nice?" he muttered.

_Lucien's writings are fascinating._

He wasn't surprised that the old woman would speak, but nearly shitted himself when he heard his two friends shout in surprise. He then quietly scolded, "Would you two keep it down with the scared screams? If the bandits hear us, I will so kick your ass when we get to Westcliff." His two friends slowly nodded their heads, surprised to see the angry look and aura that came off of their blonde friend. They then heard Theresa continue.

_There is much in them that may interest you, when you have the time. For now, press on to Westcliff._

"Sounds like a good bit of light reading," he heard Hannah said, catching everyone's attention as they stopped. The woman walked past them as she said proudly, "Me? I prefer the idea of a little action." As she continued a bit on her own, Sparrow looked at the three boys as she let out a laugh combined with a sigh before the four caught up with the Hero of Strength. As they started to enter through the doors, Marcos said, "Speaking of action, if this place is called 'Bandit Coast'... shouldn't this place be overrun with bandits?" Jonnathan and Anthony turned their heads slowly to glare down at him, making Marcos glance between the two as he then shouted, "What?"

It was obviously that the short Mexican had jinxed them as three groups of bandits suddenly jumped out of nowhere and declared their attacks on the five. Anthony pulled out his Steel Katana as Marcos then pulled out two of his own, holding them like he had seen Jedi Knights have done as he had slid his mask down to cover his face. Jonnathan held his hood down with his left hand as he pulled out the long dagger, standing in a stance like an assassin would... well an amateurish assassin. Just before they started to counter attack, Anthony declared in a loud voice, "I am going to kill you when we get to Westcliff, Marcos!"

_**At Oakfield...**_

They were now running up the path to the Temple as they had to fight some bandits that were obviously contracted by the Temple of Shadows. Luckily he was skilled with guns as Elias shot at two oncoming bandits that were shouting battle cries at the top of their lungs. He also saw the glare that Allen seem to be aiming at him every time he fired his newly equipped dual Clockwork Flintlock Pistols. Rook was leading the way, obviously being infuriated by how the two were being so slow. He had just wanted to lead them to the spot, but Theresa had _insisted_ that he joined on their quest.

Once they got near the Temple of Light, they saw the guards there and reluctantly let them past them to the monks that were safely inside. Rook went to speak to them, suddenly showing that he was bipolar as he began speaking in a soft tone and asking them for information on their quest. Allen was more pissed that the man was able to woo women better than him, which was saying nothing since his woman handling skills stunk. Elias noted that these two were indeed not like his friends back at his own time, but they still seemed to give off a slight familiar aura towards him. He was suddenly taken back when Rook grabbed the back of his Highwayman coat and dragged him out of the Temple of Light. "We have to go through the caves and kill anyone that's in there," he stated, still dragging the red head they reached the small river. He then let the boy go, making Elias fall backwards into the water.

Allen huffed and said, "Why don't we just knock them down from far away? Or lure them into the high paths and pushed them to the long drops?"

He was taken back when Rook let out an exasperated sigh and glared at him before saying, "Because I don't want to have to deal with their damn souls coming back as Hollow men." The ninja watched the mage apprentice walk as he let out a laugh before he then looked a bit worried. "Can that really happen?"

He didn't get his answer as Elias slowly got up, causing the ninja to look at him. Allen's eyes then opened very widely as he stared at the young boy who slowly stood up, coughing up water. "Damn it to hell," he shouted as he then noticed Allen staring at him with shock. Elias rubbed his own head, wondering what was wrong with the ninja, as he then pulled it away and asked, "What're you looking at?" He saw Allen slowly point at his head and said, "I thought you were a redhead."

Unsure on what he meant, he took a hair bang that covered his right eye and noticed that the strands were mixed with black and red. He then pulled his fingers away as he said, "I do remember being born with red hair, so I don't even know why you would be all worried. It's just dirt." But when was dirt ever pitch black? He then stared at his hand as he then noticed it was laced with red paint... or was it blood? Obviously curious and not afraid of lead poisoning, he licked the red substance, tasting copper and dry. His eyes widened in fear as the two just stood there frozen in place.

From far away at the bottom, Rook was shaking his head and sighed for what felt like the tenth time since he had joined this little group as he muttered, "This had better be worth the gold I'm getting from Shared, or else I'm ratting out all these people out to Lord Lucien."

_**Meanwhile...**_

After fighting through legion after legion of bandits and then fighting off a large group of Highwaymen, Anthony, Sparrow, Marcos, Hannah, and Jonnathan had finally made it to Westcliff Road. Anthony was lagging a bit along with Marcos and Jonnathan as the two seemed to be clinging to his sweater jacket really tightly. Doogal wasn't helping much as the dog just sat on its usual spot on the blonde's head, making it even harder for Anthony to not attempt to beat the living shit out of his friends. Sparrow found it a bit amusing as she then noticed that Hannah was in rather quiet, which was quite different than the talkative person she was. She had an idea on what was going through the Hero of Strength's head as she then walked side-by-side with the tall, buff woman and asked, "You worried about Allen?"

The woman didn't surprised by the statement as Hannah replied, "I'm just worried on what that Rook guy would do. I mean, can we really trust him? Can we really trust those three?" She then gestured toward the back as Sparrow turned to see Anthony beginning to snap at Marcos and Jonnathan, both of them apologizing for the hard clinging. She smiled, turned back to Hannah, and said, "I trust Anthony, and if his friends are as good as he is at what he does, we have nothing to really worry about if they do turn out to be evil." Hannah got the joke as she let out a good "ha" as she then saw Anthony running toward them, obviously trying to avoid his friends. "I swear to God, they act as if they never walked around the woods at night."

"Well, this road is infested with balverines," Hannah stated as they continued walking. When she turned to look at Anthony, she noticed that the teenager had stopped dead in his tracks a few feet behind them. Sparrow saw that his face was filled with fear and his body was shaking due to the fact that the katana on his back was moving. "B-b-b-b-balverines... d-d-d-did you just say.... balverines?" Hannah slowly nodded her head and said, "I heard this story once."

"Oh god no!" Jonnathan shouted in fear as he cowered behind Marcos's short form, both shivering in fear. Anthony was in equal fear, trying his best not to leave something in his worn out pants. Sadly enough, his own clothes were starting to wear out from not being properly washed or dried ever since he got here... wasn't that like twenty five days ago? He was brought back to reality as Hannah suddenly was talking about the story, sounding a bit demonic as if to add the horror into it. "It was about these traders who got attacked. Balverines killed both parents, but the kids survived."

Sparrow sighed as she shook her head, obviously not frightened by the story as Hannah continued, "A slaver found the poor things, took them back to his camp, and locked up the poor things. That night, the kids turned, broke out of the cage, and killed every slaver in the camp. It makes you think, doesn't?" This made Anthony feel a bit better as he said, "Well, looks like something that would really help us out if one of us got bitten." Jonnathan glared at his friend as he said, "You don't remember your humanity when you turn into a balverine, Anthony." The blond glared at the tall assassin wearing teenager as he snapped, "And what are you, Mister Expert on all Albion?"

Jonnathan just shook his head and followed Sparrow who was a bit tired by this occasionally stalling, not that they were entertaining and enlightening. It was also obvious that the boys weren't that much frightened much as they continued down the road. They soon entered nearly a lighted path when Sparrow stopped, looking at a stone arch. This caused everyone to look as Anthony felt Doogal slide off his head along with his beanie. Right there on the arch was a dark colored balverine, crouching on the arch and now staring at them. Fear consumed their bodies once more as the creature then roared loudly and jumped into the air, disappearing from their eyes. "Aw man!" Marcos shouted as he was now holding one of his Katana as the other was still sheathed on his back. Jonnathan was clinging to the short man, his teeth chattering as his eyes were covered with his hair and hoodie. Anthony was standing with Sparrow before he then watched her run ahead, her pistol out and ready. "Sparrow, wait up! Don't go off alone!" he shouted as he attempted to catch up until he was stopped by a black mass landing in front of him. He stood still as the form slowly stood up, measuring as tall as Hannah, and showed very, very sharp teeth with a canine face.

Anthony literally felt like he had just shitted himself as he just felt control of his body gone as he screamed really loud, but luckily really manly because he wouldn't have lived it down if they survived and he screamed like a girl, which wasn't rare in fact if you got to know him and scared the living hell out of him all the time with the fact that… never mind…

"We're all going to die!" Marcos declared as Hannah swung her hammer, sending the balverine back, but it didn't seem to affect it much as it landed near Sparrow. She was able to jump away when the creature tried to slash at her with its already blood-covered claws. "Take it down! **Take it down!**" Jonnathan said as he threw his daggers, missing the creature when it easily avoids the attack. Anthony glared at Jonnathan as he said, "Don't you dare treat this like this is freaking Halo 3 because I don't see Master Chief running around with his Energy Sword!"

He then noticed Sparrow looking at him oddly as he promised to explain later before they returned their attention back to the balverine that was now chasing Jonnathan and Marcos, both screaming bloody murder. He suddenly wasn't sure if he should save his friends or watch to see if Jonnathan was smart enough to turn around and stab the thing in between its eyes, because he could if he was good at aiming.

_**In the caves in Oakfield...**_

Elias was able to shoot down another assassin that had dropped out of nowhere for the fifteen time as they were battling waves after waves of Temple of Shadow minions, which strike a bit odd to Elias since he knew that there should only be three in each area, not legions after legions trying to hack at them or push them off the edge. Rook raised his hands and then aimed at the assassins that were now blocking the doorway to the last room where the ritual was to be performed. Elias watched as the teenager turned into a streak of light and went past all of them. Once his form reappeared, the assassins fell down all together after being pushed back by the force. Allen soon returned as the now black haired shooter saw a bunch of ghost following him. Glancing between the two, Allen just ignored the interrogative stare as they headed to the final room.

There in the middle of where Elias had seen Hammer stood in the game was Cornelius, the Abbot of the Temple of Shadows. The gun wielder aimed his pistols while Rook started to charge for what looked like a fire spell as in his hands, an orb of red started to grow. Cornelius just smirked as he said, "Is this all that the Temple of Light can throw at me? Do you really think that you can defeat the power of darkness?" Elias mentally groaned as he suddenly felt like he was in the final battle against Ansem from Kingdom Hearts before he heard the Abbot say, "And I'm not surprised that you have betrayed us, Allen."

Elias turned to see the ninja's guard harden as did his eyes, glaring at Cornelius. "I don't know what you're talking about, old man," he said as his kunai were held reversed, aiming to slice the man's throat the minute he got close enough. Cornelius laughed as he said, "Don't act coy with me, Allen. I had really thought you would have become a great follower of the Shadows, but it seems I see better potential that has accompanied you." Allen instinctively glanced toward Rook who shook his head and nodded his head towards to the only other occupant in the room. The ninja turned to see Elias using his right pinky finger to clean his ear, as if ignoring the part of "better potential that has accompanied you". He then flicked the ear wax away as he then noticed everyone's attention was on him. Glancing between his comrades and the bad guy, he then spoke in an annoyed tone, "What?"

"Fuck it!" Allen shouted as he then threw his kunai which Cornelius easily deflected since an invisible field was surrounding him. Cursing once again, Rook was about to throw his fireball when he noticed movement in the darkness. With quick reflexes, he threw the fireball to his left, killing an assassin that was almost two feet away from slicing off his head. Elias saw this as he then aimed with his pistol at the oncoming wave as ten more of them started to attack. Allen was pissed as he heard Cornelius' voice echo through the room, laughing as they did their best to fight off the wave. They were lucky, but with being already fatigued from fighting the other assassins that were outside.

"I don't find this fun anymore," Elias shouted as he then shot the last one, huffing and puffing as he nearly felt his trigger finger aching. Rook glared at him and asked, "When did you ever find this fun?" Elias didn't want to answer that as he then noticed Allen charging at Cornelius. He shouted to the ninja, but his voice was ignored as Allen then jumped in the air and attempted to do a Superman punch when Cornelius quickly spread his arms out, making a Force push and sent the ninja back and into Elias. Rook cursed slightly as he then slammed his palm into the stone ground as he then stood up, seeing everything moving in slow motion. At the corner of this eye, he noticed wisp falling from the ceiling and nestling into the floor. He already knew what that meant as he then ran over to the fallen two, grabbing Elias. Upon touching the freshman, Elias was suddenly up to speed with the mage apprentice and was in awe on how everything but him and Rook was in sepia tone. Rook smacked his head and shouted, "Aim for the guy's head before we join the dead, you bloody boy!"

"Okay! Okay!" Elias snapped back as he then lifted his gun and shot several times, six times to be exact. The first four didn't get the target, but the last two hit both the heart and the head of Cornelius as time suddenly resumed to its normal speed. The Abbot of Shadows fell down like a sack of potatoes as Allen slowly stood up; holding his shoulder as it had felt like was dislocated due to the impact with stone. Elias then blew at the barrel as he twirled it by the trigger and said to Rook, "Yeah... you wish you could do that." He then holstered his pistol, his finger still on the trigger as he tried to pull his hand away. The trigger was pulled back as a bullet flew out of holster and into Rook's foot.

The man cursed as he jumped around, holding his foot in pain as blood started to seep through the boot. As Elias was trying his best to apologize to him, Allen was already standing above the dead Abbot, glaring down at the man. Kneeling down, he then searched through the robes until his hands reached a ring set of keys. Looking through them, he smirked behind his mask as he then pocketed the keys and turned to watched Rook hopping after Elias in a murderous stride.

_**In Westcliff...**_

Marcos suddenly felt the color drain from his face as he saw the shadow of a balverine jump away as everyone had walked away, not noticing it waiting there. "Hey, Marcos," he heard Jonnathan call him as his hooded friend had walked back since he wasn't up ahead with everyone else. "Let's get going. I think we're almost there." Marcos slowly turned his head to look at the tall junior as he said, "I don't think that woman is all that she says she is." Jonnathan was starting to have the same frightened look that the short Mexican had when he then burst into laughter, patting the short boy's head. "Aw man, Marcos, you almost had me there for a second. Let's just get going before Anthony makes a suggestion like leaving us here in the caves of some old ruin cavern."

The junior nodded his head as he then followed his friend, feeling a bit more frightened with every step he took into this area. As they started to hear the familiar voices of their sophomore friend, they quickened their pace. They turned the corner and saw a large door had been opened, revealing a rather large room. The two were about to walk through it when they noticed two balverines standing on top of two tall pillars, staring down at the three that were already with the woman. Jonnathan was about to call out to them when he suddenly heard, "_Children, I bring you flesh._"

At that moment, the two of them literally wanted to shit their pants as they then pulled the doors closed, leaving Sparrow, Hannah, and Anthony to fend off whatever that was going to be thrown at them in the room. Once the doors were shut closed, they heard loud banging on the door, followed by Anthony's voice of promising to kick their ass if he ever survived whatever was in there. They then began to hear swishing of blades, gun shots, loud snarling, and Anthony's cursing. Jonnathan was keeping the door closed as Marcos kept silently apologizing to Anthony, hoping that they weren't really needed. After a couple of minutes, silence covered the whole place. Just as they were thinking that everything was alright, the two heard loud growling behind. Not wanting to know what it was, Jonnathan kicked the door open with surprising force as the two then ran past their three comrades who have already made a bridge across a spiky pit.

They kept on running, ignoring the fact that they were abandoning their friends again. They soon reached the outside, realizing that they had battle throughout the night as the sun was rising from the east. Jonnathan fell to the floor and started kissing the ground as Marcos was trying to catch his breath. After a couple of minutes more, they heard someone clearing their throat as the two turned to see Sparrow, Hannah, and Anthony having their arms folded over their chests and their feet tapping the ground. Marcos was too tired to feel guilty while Jonnathan had already fallen unconscious to the floor. Anthony then said, "I'm going to tell on you guys if we ever get back home."

After regaining their composures, the five headed toward the Westcliff Camp. Anthony didn't seem to get the joke when the men who "greeted" them called him a little girl. They did their best to stop Marcos from clawing at them as they soon headed through the town. Sadly enough, the men were still following them as they kept chiding at them for coming here and not looking strong enough. Sparrow kept on telling Hannah not to get angry and bashing their heads as they started climbing the steps of the Crucible. It wasn't that high, but their legs were already tired as they soon reached the top and saw Mad Dog "The Strangler" McGraw and Allen Murray. As they talked about their admissions, they were about to only let Sparrow when Murray suddenly had this dark smirk appear on his face.

"I think I have a good idea for this year's contest," he said as he then pointed at the boys. "How about we see who is the fastest on completing all six rounds of the Crucible? We won't let you die, of course since you two seem hell bent on not dieing." This caused Anthony to glare at his friends as the two laughed nervously. He then nodded his head, answering for him and his friends. He then asked, "What about Hannah?" McGraw seemed a bit peeved at the comment she had said earlier as she then said to him, "I best not since the great champion wouldn't like me making fun of his name."

As the four were about to enter, Anthony then felt a weight lifted from his head as McGraw had Doogal in his hands. "I'm sorry, but no dogs either," he said. Doogal tried to put on his best puppy sad face, but they wouldn't let him come along. Once inside, they prepped up and made sure they had a lot of potions on them. They all came up with a game plan to at least go in pairs which oddly enough, Murray had let them. As they went into the cavern, it was suddenly split in two so they bid their short farewells and headed off into the Crucible.

Anthony and Sparrow entered a large room that looked like a circular field with very few flowers and grass. As they heard McGraw and Murray speak about the contest, Anthony said, "You think we will get out of this alive?" Sparrow shrugged her shoulders and said, "Just watch my back, and I'll watch yours." Anthony laughed as he then pulled out his katana and held it like Riku from Kingdom Hearts before he replied, "I'm your Keeper, Sparrow. It's my job." He knew the girl smirked as she then pulled out her pistol as beetles started to dig their way up from the ground.

The crowds cheered as both Anthony and Sparrow continued fighting together, making Hannah proud as Doogal was in her arms. She then decided to head over to the other side, wondering if Jonnathan and Marcos were pissing their pants over a bunch of beetles. Once she was able to see, she nearly dropped Doogal at the sight of what she saw. There down below, the two teenagers were grabbing beetles and hurling them at each other like it was some kind of water balloon fight. The two were acting like children as Jonnathan grabbed a rather large red beetle and threw it at Marcos. The mask wearing teen easily dodged it as he grabbed a retreating small blue beetle and threw it straight into Jonnathan's private area, making contact. A lot of the spectators laughed at this, finding it entertaining while some others just found it to be a waste of time. Hannah sighed as then stared at Doogal and said, "I'm amazed that these two are friends with the blonde boy."

_**In Oakfield...**_

Rook and Elias were standing outside of the Temple of Light, trying their best to not hear the loud lecture that Allen was getting. Apparently, Elias had the tendency to say things when he wasn't supposed to; causing the whole Temple of Light to learn about the fact that he was associated with the Temple of Shadows. Feeling a bit bad, Elias kept debating on whether to go in and defend Alvaro's past self, or stay out here and just keep quiet like he was supposed to. He then heard a flick as he turned to look at Rook, seeing him smoking a cigarette. He was about to scold Rook when they realized once again, this guy was Ryan. With the fact that he was acting like a total douche bag towards them, he knew it wasn't him. Allen kind of acted like Alvaro, but he still seemed to have a different vibe than his high school friend.

A black blur passed by them from the Temple as Elias and Rook quickly followed. It was obvious the man was pissed since he seemed to sending daggers of glare at all the monks that were passing by. Elias also noticed that they were avoiding looking at him or even acknowledging him or Rook. With curiosity getting to him, he caught up with Allen and asked, "So... what happened?" Allen stopped, showing that there were now at the lake that was being filled with the ocean and the waterfall. He stared down at the water as he then grabbed Elias and threw him into the water. Being caught off guard, Elias was like a rag doll as his body made a belly flop on contact to the water, causing a lot of pain to course through his stomach area.

While Elias tried to resurface and ignore the pain, Allen was huffing in anger while Rook then stood at least a safe distance beside the ninja and stated, "Did they kick you out of the Temple of Light?" It seemed to hit the mark as Allen was about to continue walking when Rook said, "You kind of have to blame yourself for this situation." Allen turned, a bit confused. Rook turned to look at him, grabbing the cigarette and flicking it into the lake, not seeing that it landed on Elias' head that was still busy trying to groan in pain and taking deep breaths of air.

"You joined the Temple of Shadows _before _meeting Hannah. I'm not saying that you like the damn buff chick. I doubt anyone could with the fact of her looking like she wants to smash heads, but with the fact that you obviously keeping this a secret..." He then stopped himself, not wanting to deal with Allen tossing him into the lake as he then said, "Let's just head to Bowerstone for a cup of ale and rum." Allen sighed in defeat as he lower his mask, revealing a normal but a depressed face. He then nodded in agreement as Rook then led the way. As they reached about five yards away from the lake, they heard Elias shout aloud as he then caught up with them. Slightly cautious and worried, the two turned as Elias was running toward them and declared, "I can't get the Maelstrom anymore!"

Allen stopped himself from wanting to hurl the teenager into a tree while Rook punched the teen's head, causing Elias to curse in Spanish.

_**Three hours later, in the Crucible...**_

Sparrow and Anthony sighed in relief as they had finally reached the final round of the Crucible as the audience cheered. Anthony looked to the crowd and noticed that Jonnathan and Marcos were with Hannah and Doogal. He sighed in relief, a bit happy that his friends weren't killed. He also wanted to laugh and point at them for probably chickening out at the round with the Hollow men As they headed toward the middle, the two stopped as they recognized the hill. They expected a troll to pop out and try to hurl rocks and send earthquakes to them, but nothing happened. The crowd seemed to be disappointed until Murray's voice echoed through the room.

"_We got a special treat for all you folks; a new kind of round for these young fighters._"

McGraw's voice then joined in.

"_With the way these two fight, it seems they do well on fighting together, but what about __**fighting each other**__?_"

With those words, Anthony's "oh shit" moment was overcome by the loud cheering of the crowds. The two seemed to stare at each other, unsure on what to do. Anthony was about to fight as then they heard Murray adding, "_This will also be a fight to the death! How exciting is that, folks?_" This caused discontent between the two as Anthony lower his sword and wanted to reject the proposal. However, his attempt was stopped as Sparrow suddenly started firing at him. He blocked all the shots once he heard them with his katana as he then ran for cover behind a boulder. He was breathing hard as he then shouted to Sparrow, "**Sparrow!** Don't do this! Did you even hear what they said? They want us to **kill each other!**"

She kept on firing as the shots were getting louder and louder, indicating that she was walking toward the boulder. He began to think as then saw that he could probably make the troll come out and make the announcers reconsidered on who will be named winner. However, he forgot of one fact as he suddenly left his cover, causing a bullet to embed itself into his leg. He tumbled forward, letting his katana fall away from his reach. He then turned to see Sparrow above him, seeing the barrel of the gun aimed right at him. He half expected to hear the crowd whoop in joy and start saying to kill him...

...but all he heard was the buzzer as he heard Murray say, "_And we have a winner._"

Both of them had cursed together, slightly surprised at the sudden change of ending as the two announcers came inside, McGraw holding a trophy that was rather big. Sparrow helped Anthony stand up as he asked Murray, "Why the hell did you say for us to fight to the death? You almost made her kill me, goddammit!" Sparrow was about to add something to that as well when McGraw said, "I didn't agree to that, and Allen here wanted to get more money and bets from the watchers there. And also, your bulky friend nearly squashed his skull."

Anthony made a mental note to thank the Hero of Strength as McGraw congratulated Sparrow and handed her the trophy. The blonde had to hold in his laughter as the trophy seemed to be a bit too heavy for her, causing her to fall to the ground in a large flop.

_**One year later...**_

At the docks below Westcliff, Anthony was standing there as he waited with Marcos and Jonnathan. His two friends were busy tossing rocks across the ocean, chatting about how fun it was to train at Shared's camp. Anthony slightly laughed at those words as he then looked up, seeing figures walking down by the cliff side. He saw Hannah following two figures, Sparrow and Tuck. It has been nearly ten months since the damn long haired bandit had proposed to her and apparently, he had heard that they got married in the same week. To add more drama, they just had a kid about a month ago! Jonnathan and Marcos were obviously wigging out since they could never imagine Francy having a baby, let alone getting married right after high school. As the happily married couple got closer, he noticed a small form was in Sparrow's arms, a baby.

A bit curious, Anthony walked toward them as he pulled off the covers, revealing the baby to have silver hair. Unsure where the hair color gene came from, he took decided to take a guess on something as he asked, "Did you name your kid 'Hitsuguya'?" Sparrow seemed to have this shocked look as Anthony waved it off, calling it a lucky guess. In the back of his mind, he was cracking up as Francy would most likely name her kid after her favorite Bleach character. As Tuck took the baby from Sparrow's arms, she started to take off her gun strap and handing it to Hannah. It seemed she already informed that she wasn't allowed to bring anything that was from here to the Spire. They heard barking as they looked down at Doogal, seeing him trying to jump up to Sparrow. The girl put on a sad face as she knelt down and giving her pet a long hug. Apparently, they didn't allow dogs on the boat. Wanting to make his friend better, he knelt down and said, "I promise to watch out for Doogal while you're gone, Sparrow."

She nodded her head as everyone gave their goodbyes. Hannah gave a really big crushing hug while Tuck gave her a really long kiss, causing Marcos and Anthony to gag at the sight. The three boys decided to glomp her all together as Doogal joined in, landing on Anthony's head when the four fell to the ground. It was obvious that they were testing the captain's patience as he demanded for them to stop their damn farewells so that she could get going.

It didn't take long as once Sparrow got on the boat; it set sail and started to drift away. Everyone stood at the dock as they waved goodbye to their friend, wishing her luck on her quest. Anthony stood there as he then pocketed his hands in the sweater jacket, now faded and ridden with holes as the right sleeve was ready to fall off. His pants were ribbed at the knees as the back part was the only thing that was keeping it from making the pants into geeky shorts.

Once the ship was barely anything but a speck on the ocean, everyone went on their own ways as Tuck headed back to Bowerstone, wanting to raise his son and wait for Sparrow to come back. Hannah decided to stay at the Guild with Theresa as she wanted to train more. Marcos and Jonnathan had decided to stay with Anthony at Shared's camp, wanting to learn to fight and brawl like bandits, not really surprising.

As he and his friends headed back to the camp, Anthony remembered that Elias decided to travel Albion with Allen, wanting to see the world and also become a better fighter. Rook was currently staying at Brightwood Tower and fighting off any Spire Guards that seem to be coming back for Garth's things.

He then soon realized that he was now standing right in front of the open wooden gates of Shared's camp, seeing the bandits fighting each other and having fun. Marcos and Jonnathan ran off into the camp, leaving Anthony to stand alone at the gate. He turned to look back over to the path they had walked through, seeing nothing but the path and the woods that surrounded it and concealed the camp from curious eyes. He had counted the days since he had arrived to this time... He had counted the days since he met Sparrow, Francy's past self... He knew it has been a year and thirty days since his home was attack by Spire Guards and making him run to this time... He only had to count the days until Sparrow returned to Albion with Garth...

With these thoughts echoing through his head, he walked into the camp and ignored that the doors closed behind him, their lock echoing through the woods.

**To Be Continued...**

**Disoriented Soul: Thanks for the review!**

**Elias Perez: Wassup Elias! LOL**

_Please review!_


	8. Chapter 8

**Note: I'm sorry if this is too short and fast paced. It's because I'm trying to do some CAR hours and it's my graduating year... God I'm an idiot for not doing them... Note to all you lower classmen in high school, do your CAR hours before your Senior year or you'll be too freakin' busy to have real fun.**

**Chapter 8  
Ten Years & Catching Up**

_I still can't believe how long it's been since this all started. I barely remember much of my old life which seems too simple to what I've been doing now. High school seems to be a breeze compared to killing rival bandit camps. Reading the news is much better than being the news..._

_I guess it has been more than eleven years since I got here and ten years since we all last saw her leave on that boat to the Spire. Like I have done so much on my boring days, I would count every one of the days that went by. That would mean it has been eleven years and thirty days since this all started for me. That would make me about twenty-seven right now, which means I wasted most of my life learning to fight against the Spire Guards and rival bandit gangs. It sounds like fun, but it isn't. I actually miss just hanging out and leaving this all to the cops who we all hated and were disrespectful to. I missed just going out somewhere with only worrying about getting caught for ditching class._

_But I guess there shouldn't be complaining on my part..._

A blonde haired man stood on the main mast of a ship, the wind blowing against his short hair. He showed a stoic face as he stared at the rather tall tower that was built far from the shores of Albion. He felt a bit ironic in a way since he was wearing the clothes that belonged to the Spire Guards who had tried to kill him since he arrived. He didn't wear the spiked collar though, already informed on what it does to disobedient soldiers.

...but he wasn't really a soldier.

His right hand held on tightly to the rope, keeping him from falling to a very low deck. He looked down at the other occupants below. They were all people who wished to help Lord Lucien's dream or plan of something. He laughed softly, finding it funny on how a single man could mislead so many people.

"**Yo, Anthony! Stop acting like Jack Sparrow!**"

Slightly caught off guard from the shouting, his right hand released its grip on the only thing that kept him from falling. With quick thinking, he pushed off with his feet, making his fall a diagonal one. However, he didn't calculate that he would be landing on his friend who was steering the ship. The one steering was wearing a mask resembling General Grievous as he was mostly focused on his current task when he felt a body collide into him hard. The two tumbled as one of the other "guards" quickly took control of the ship. A loud crash was heard, alerting the passengers as some seemed a bit concern.

The "guard" now steering turned, his right eye covered by his brown hair as his left brown eye looked at the two nearly unconscious boys who were tangled up and seeing stars. The man shook his head as a large shadow suddenly covered the ship. He looked up to see that they were about to enter the Spire. The "guard" then noticed one of the passengers walking and then stood with him. He wore attire similar to the main character from Assassin's Creed, only slightly modified and colored black. "Looks like we are in over our heads," he commented as he then reached for his hood when the wind suddenly blew harshly. Rook just laughed as he adjusted the ship to enter through the tall entrance before replying, "But it would be at least fun when we get inside." He saw Jonnathan nod his head and smirk before Rook looked over his own shoulder to see Anthony trying to apologize to an infuriated Marcos.

As the ship floated to the dock, everyone was on edge as one of the Spire Guards pulled a plank, leading all the occupants out. Jonnathan was a bit wary as his right hand held his hood to hide his eyes. Anthony was twitching, itching for a fight if anything went not accordingly to their plan. He began to wonder why he was even here in the Spire and not just waiting for her to just break out. He then remembered the letter that he had received days ago from Elias. It was then that he had to bust her out of the Spire before anyone started to lose hope. Anthony was, indeed, Sparrow's Keeper after all.

Before anyone could start a surprise attack, a rather large explosion shook the Spire and its occupants. The people became frightened as the Spire Guards all ran toward the center of the Spire. Slightly confused, Anthony jumped off the ship as he looked to see that something, or someone, was fighting its way over here. He then noticed numerous golden blades appearing and killing a few of the retreating guards. Not wanting to be mistaken as one of them, he tore off his disguise.

Underneath the disguise was a grey sleeveless vest that concealed a short tight white top. The vest had white leather on the shoulders that were held together in the front by a golden rope. His hands were covered with black Highway man gloves but slightly narrower on the wrist part. The pants were black with grey bands that were tied below his knees as they then were tucked into mid-calf brown boots.

He turned to see Marcos and Rook already had ridden themselves of the disguises as Marcos threw on a black trench coat over his vest that was worn over an orange turtle neck. His pants were boot cut as he wore the shoes he had worn since his arrival underneath them. Anthony also saw a small creature appear on his shoulder, making a purring sound. It was Jam, a strange creature that Marcos had found during the ten years and both seemed to have become good friends since then. It reminded him of that creature from the movie _CJ7_. The antenna on its head bobbed and wagged as it seemed eager to do something.

Rook also threw on his black mage coat as the sleeves were held together by threads that showed the bare skin underneath. He wore a tunic that was tied around the waist with a blue sash. His pants were baggy and overlapped his black boots. Some of the guards that were still alive started to attack them as Anthony pulled out his Master Katana. He swung it upward as the guard was thrown off the dock and into the water. Marcos pulled out his dual Katanas as he jumped over two of the guards, landing behind them, and thrusts his swords into their backs, causing Jam to trill in excitement. Rook then slammed his fist into the ground and suddenly began to move too fast for Anthony to see.

His attention returned to the source of the commotion as he saw two figures running towards them, one of them wearing Spire Guard clothing. His hand started to spark a bit as he was itching to try out his new move when the short Spire Guard's face was shown; it was Sparrow! Her hair had grown a bit longer, well really long, but it was still in the same style as his high school friend has. He shouted in excitement as he then shouted to his friends to get back on the ship, becoming slightly mad that Jonnathan was already prepping their escape without them. Rook had already thrown a pistol at the man's head as he began scolding the hood about abandoning his friends to save his own hide. Anthony was too busy paying attention when he didn't notice a Spire Guard ready to shoot him from the back. He turned just in time to see the barrel aimed right at his face as his whole life suddenly flashed before his eyes.

The guard suddenly froze after a gunshot echoed around them. He then watched the man fall backwards and into the water with a large flop. He then saw that Sparrow had her pistol up and aimed just where the man was. Anthony smiled as he then led the two on to the ship and they quickly sailed off back to the Albion.

_**Four Days later...**_

Near the docks of Oakfield, Elias stood and looked down at the now ten year old Golden Oak tree. He stood as he looked down at the docks to see Theresa waiting there along with a rather large shaggy dog with black fur. It more looked like a black rug covering a pile of dirt, but he didn't say anything. He looked at the ocean to see a ship coming, a smile crossing his face. After paying his respects, he quickly ran down to the docks.

After ten years, his own clothing changed as he wore a simple dark blue cloak over a black colored Explorer shirt and pants. His gloves were dark brown Highwayman gloves. His black hair had grown a bit longer but so much as it just barely brushed his shoulders, still covering his right eye. He wore a pair of dark brown Explorer boots as there was a small dagger tied to the right ankle area. He soon reached the docks as the boat pulled up to it, letting a large plank fall upon it to connect the vessel to land. Elias stopped running as he stood with Theresa who seemed at least happy that someone they knew had returned.

The dog barked enthusiastically as he ran toward the only female that got off the boat with five other males, four of them he recognized as his friends in which he hasn't seen for nearly ten years. Over loaded with happiness, he quickly ran up to his four friends and quickly pulled Marcos into a tight hug, making Anthony and Jonnathan laugh at the sight of the short man being swung around in the hug. Rook just shook his head as he then followed the old man and Sparrow who were headed towards Theresa. The old woman walked toward them as the large dog ran up to his owner and started licking her face with great joy.

"Looks like you have a lot of friends who were willing to wait for you this whole time," said the old man in which Elias realized that it was Garth. When he saw the old man glance at him and his friends, he let out a cheesy grin as he hugged all of his by their necks and said, "Yep, we used up ten years just to wait for our grand hero to return!"

He felt Anthony glare at him and heard him say, "You make it sound like a bad thing, idiot." The tall black haired man just laughed as he then felt all three of his friends punch his sides, causing serious pain to echo through his mid section. He was now twitching on the ground when Garth was passing by them, as if to leave. Anthony saw this and said, "Hey, wait! We need your help!"

Garth looked down at him and said, "I believe it was your own doing that made your friend in this position." Unsure what he meant, Anthony saw the old man point down at Elias as he then said, "Not that! He gets hurt all the time since he's an idiot!" Marcos and Jonnathan were behind him as they muttered a bit too loud, "We're all idiots so don't be a hypocrite." He glared at his two friends who were now smiling innocently as he turned to look back at Garth who was now already nears the end of the dock. Just as he thought the man was going to leave, he saw Theresa just step in front of him. He saw her mouth moving as to converse with him, but he couldn't hear a word the two were saying.

However, it looked like Theresa had failed as Garth was just about to walk around when Rook suddenly ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "If we don't do this, Teach, you know that we are going to regret it later," Rook stated, making everyone stare at him with disbelief, including Garth. It was obvious that Rook didn't know what else to say as Anthony could see the sweat drop forming on the mage apprentice's head. It seemed at first that Garth was going to just brush him off when he suddenly chuckled and replied, "I never knew you would actually use that word after saying you like to be on your own, Rook."

Anthony laughed as he knew that the man was now blushing at the remark. He watched Rook jump away from Garth and point accusingly at the man before saying, "Shut up! I'm only doing this because there was nothing better to do than freaking fighting off Spire Guards who kept on trying to break in to your home. Be lucky I didn't burn that stupid bed of yours!"

"God, that looks so gay right now," Jonnathan blurted out which caused all of his friends, including Sparrow, to smack the back of his head or elbow him in the stomach. They walked away, leaving the man curled on the ground while holding his stomach and a large lump was growing from his head. Sparrow and Anthony were the first to reach the trio that had gathered when they started to be enveloped by a beam of light. "I'll return to the Guild with Garth and Rook. I need to inform them about their connection between each other," she stated. She was going to continue when they all heard Jonnathan announce, "I'm telling you! That sounds really gay right now!"

Elias seemed pissed as he pulled out his pistol and chucked it straight at the man's face, causing him to fall backwards while the gun flew into the air and landed into the water. Realizing the outcome, Elias panicked as he ran to the edge of the dock and dived into the water. Marcos just laughed as his little pet just wagged its antenna happily while it held on tightly to his master's shoulder. Sparrow then looked at Theresa who then said, "I suggest you head to the Rookridge Inn. I believe Hannah is there waiting for you and I'm sure you would like some time before we start on finding our last Hero." With that, she disappeared in a familiar light along with Garth and Rook, leaving everyone on the docks to either watch them leave or look at Elias nearly drowning after he retrieved his gun.

_**Bowerstone Old Town**_

Tuck sighed for what felt like the tenth time that evening as he stood outside of his house, sitting on the grass garden that had grown in the small fence that surrounded the house. He was wearing a similar outfit like Elias but instead he wore a tight white shirt that was tucked into his pants and his left arm was a metal gauntlet. He chose this house because just next to it was where Sparrow had lived when she was a child before... he couldn't bare thinking about it as it seemed to add more sadness to his heart. It's been nearly ten years since he had seen his wife's face and he hated to say it but... he was starting to lose hope that she would return. He looked up to see his son playing around as he was running around after another boy with a wooden sword, declaring that he was going to become a Hero.

The man let out a small chuckle as he smiled at the sight. However, the small peace was interrupted when he saw Derek the Sheriff running through the fence and toward him. He expected he was going to say something that some travelers were being attack at Bower Lake or that bandits had captured some innocent people. He was about to head back into his house to fetch his sword when Derek said, "Tuck, she has returned."

Unsure what he meant and not wanting to get his own hopes up, he kept on a confused face as he asked, "Who has returned?" The conversation took his son's attention from his sword fight, looking at his father with ice blue eyes that reminded Tuck of his own late father's. Derek grabbed the man by his upper arm and started to drag him toward the small market area in Old Town. He finally answered his question with great delight, "Sparrow, your wife has returned, Tuck."

Once those words left his mouth, Derek was suddenly the one being dragged as Tuck quickly ran through the fence, grabbing his son by the waist, and dashed toward the small market. There, a small crowd blocked the entrance as he tried to find a small opening to push through. He groaned as he let his grip go on Derek who dropped to the floor, groaning as he tried to rid himself of his butt burn. He gently let down Hitsuguya who stood near his father, a bit curious on why such a crowd would grow in Old Town. He then saw the crowd disperse to let through a small group of people being led by some woman. Her hair was a bit weird like his, but it was a natural color while his hair was colored silver, a color that he got from his late grandfather on his dad's side.

He then noticed the woman look at him as Hitsuguya quickly hid behind his father, clinging to his pants with a face filled with shyness. However, his father started to walk toward the woman and then pulled her into a hug, shocking the boy. "I thought you were dead!" Tuck declared as he then spun around with the girl in his arms, getting stares from everyone. Hitsuguya looked behind the two to see Anthony, Marcos, Jonnathan, and Elias standing there with amused faces. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion because people would look content instead of amused. He then felt himself pushed forward and his father's hands on his shoulders. He looked up at the woman who staring down at him noticing that she seemed to look rather familiar. Tuck knelt down and said, "Say 'hello' to your mother, Hitsuguya."

It seems both were shocked by those words as the woman seemed to share the same expression he had; widened eyes and an open mouth. It felt like hours until the woman slowly knelt down and looked at him in the eyes. Suddenly, he felt a sudden urge of something, but he wasn't sure what. Before he knew it, he lifted his small arms and wrapped them around the woman's neck, suddenly feeling happy.

At Anthony's point of view, he then sighed in content as it seemed nice to at least something normal and nice to occur after nearly ten years of waiting, training, and fighting off rival bandits. However, he never thought of himself as a bandit but rather a Hero, even though he was a Keeper. He then heard giggling from his friends as he asked, "What's so funny?" Marcos then whispered into the blonde's ear, "Just imagine Francy looking like this... it's just so hilarious that it could really happen." It took about a few seconds for Anthony to think it thoroughly as he then tried his best not to burst into laughter. He turned his face from the stares of Sparrow and Tuck who both seemed concerned.

It took about a couple of days for Sparrow to be fully informed on everything that had happened in the last ten years.

Apparently, Anthony had trained really hard and impressed Shared enough to name him second in command. It surprised her even more that the bandits didn't seem to object to such a proposal since most of them may have been in Shared's little gang since the beginning. Marcos and Jonnathan did a little traveling between Westcliff and Bowerstone, doing a little investing in a familiar man's get-money-quick schemes. Apparently, it had worked since now Westcliff seems to have lost a lot of its dark demeanor and decor. Elias did indeed travel the world with Rook who was going to return in a couple of days. They had left Albion and went nearly to places that she never even heard of, hearing some amazing and amusing stories from the man.

This caused Sparrow to realize that they weren't teenagers anymore; they were adults with so much riding on what they do. She knew that she would have this burden on her shoulders, but she never realized that she would be sharing it so many people. Anthony was more like the very first friend she ever made other than the gypsy kids she grew up with during her childhood. The boy she had met had such an aura that would be considered a bother, but he always seemed to help when it was really needed. However, even though he still seemed to have that same personality, it seemed to have matured a bit through the years of her absence. The same went to his friends as they all seemed to have a rather adult look, but they looked as if they haven't aged a day, but at least Anthony doesn't look like he is balding anymore. With the thought on Anthony's look if he did turn bald nearly caused her to burst into laughter as she held it in with a small giggle.

_**Hours later...**_

"Guess who's here?" Shared suddenly announced as the front door kicked in and revealed him. Nearly everyone jumped in surprised as the man just burst in like a robber in the night, which it was since the sky was dark and the Town Crier had already shouted for everyone to go to bed. Anthony just lay back on his chair as it was tilted; only being supported by its two hind legs as Sparrow was sitting on another chair with her son on her lap. Tuck just stared at his boss with a blank look as Elias, Jonnathan, and Marcos paused their game of Ninja.

**Lisa: Ninja is a really funny game. I'll try to post a video of us playing for you guys to understand what it is.**

Shared then quickly ran over to Sparrow and hugged her lovingly, causing the woman to yelp in surprise. Tuck snapped at his boss for suddenly having a gayish personality while Anthony just shook his head at this. Shared had started to become a bit too carefree through the years, changing from a sarcastic bastard to a loving leader... a really loving leader. Anthony thanked God for he didn't get any advances from his teacher, though there were rumors spreading around about him in whom he didn't want to repeat at the moment, he saw Shared sit down at the empty chair at the table and said, "Overall, it's good that you're back, Sparrow. Things haven't so easy once your great departure echoed through the land."

Seeing the confusion appear on the Hero's face, Anthony then leaned forward and explained. "It only started about a week after you left. Someone spread the word and nearly all the bandits started to attack the villages and towns. We were able to repel most of them, but most of the traveler camps were destroyed in the process." Marcos joined in as he stood beside Sparrow. "It got a bit hard since it took a really long time to at least convince the guards that Shared's bandit crew wasn't evil, then Wolf disappeared after saying he had to take care of a few things, and to top it off, we had to help Rook protect Brightwood Tower from those rape... I mean, Spire Guards."

Sparrow sighed as she slightly tightened her grip around her son as she said, "I'm sorry I had to leave, but it was the only way to rescue Garth."

"Which was your mission, we know," her Keeper said. "We aren't complaining, Sparrow. We just wanted to inform you on what's been going on since you were gone..." There was a long awkward silence that befell on the occupants of the room. After a few long minutes, Jonnathan then said, "On the bright side, I'm sure Theresa will be calling us to head back to the Guild."

Elias then brightened up his face as he was about to say something, but quickly stopped himself and instead said, "I just hope it won't be too hard for you guys when you have to the find the next Hero." This caused Anthony to side glance at his friend who ignored it by adding, "But I'm sure it won't be too hard since Anthony isn't so much of an idiot since you last saw him." This caused the blonde to glare at him and said, "Hey! What's _that_ supposed to mean?" The black haired teen just shrugged his shoulders, telling him to forget what he said.

_**Two days later...**_

It was in the mid afternoon when Anthony and Sparrow received the message from Theresa. "_Hammer has learned the location of the Thief. Return to the Guild as soon as you can._" Sparrow was upstairs as she started to pack her things when she heard footsteps going up the stairs. She turned around, seeing Tuck looking at her with a blank stare. The same awkward silence that occurred just two days ago fell upon them until Tuck said, "So... you're leaving again, I see."

Although he tried to hide it, Sparrow could tell that Tuck was rather disappointed that she was leaving so soon. She sighed sadly as she slowly walked to him and placed her arms around his chest before saying, "I have to do this, Tuck. I and Anthony are the only ones who can do this."

"**Then let Anthony do it alone!**" Tuck nearly shouted, causing Sparrow to take a step back from him. Realizing what he said, he then spoke again in a calmer voice, "I mean... I just... you just got back... and you're leaving us again, just like you did ten years ago." He sighed as he then pulled her into a hug. He continued, "I never get a say on what missions you should or shouldn't do, but those ten years without you... it nearly killed me. It was so hard not just give up, but every time I saw our son grow, I kept thinking that he would soon see his mother, the Hero. But... I can't stand the fact you're running around towards danger."

"Then help us, Tuck," she casually said as she felt the man's body shake from a chuckle.

"You know I can't do that," he said as he then gently pushed her away, keeping his hands on her shoulders. "I've already vowed never to fight again after you left, focusing all my might to raise our son right. Oddly enough, Anthony visited frequently just to show him all the moves that Wolf taught him."

Sparrow laughed and joked, "That explains why he always seems to know how to take down Jonnathan with such easy strikes." Tuck then said, "Look... what I'm trying to say is..." However, Tuck didn't know what to say. Nothing came to his mind on what he could tell his wife on what she should do. In his mind, all he wanted was for her to stay here and give up the Hero life, but he knew Theresa will never allow that to happen. The old woman had a strange way of always making someone see her view on things, making them agree to anything she says.

After nearly being quiet for too long, he then said, "Just... don't be gone for too long, okay?" Sparrow smiled softly and they both kissed, not noticing they had a small audience hiding at the stairs. Hitsuguya was sitting on Jonnathan's shoulders as they hid behind the top step with Marcos. However, their hiding spot wasn't the best as Sparrow easily saw them and started shouting at the two older men for acting like boys and influencing her son to be like them.

It took another day for them to reach the Guild as Elias slid in and said, "**Oh Lucy! I'm home!**" This caused Garth, Rook, and Theresa to just stare at him with blank stares while his other friends just shook their heads as Sparrow questioned, "Is this something that's from your time as well?"

Anthony was thankful that Sparrow had understood to the fact that they couldn't reveal anything about their time period to them, if they did, so he began to just explain all the sayings he said back in the past in order for her to understand. In order to answer her question, all Anthony could do without sounding like a complete idiot was to nod his head in a dejected manner. The small group joined the trio that was already there as Theresa said, "Did you see Hammer?" Once Sparrow nodded her head, the old woman then said, "She and Allen are on their way as well, with the information she's gathered."

Anthony noticed that Garth seems to be staring at Sparrow a bit too discomforting as he then said, "What's up with you, old man?" Garth just glanced at him before he spoke to Sparrow, "Our friend has told me much about you." He suddenly had a sadden expression cross his face he hesitantly said, "That night at the castle... your sister... I had no idea." Anthony then saw that Sparrow seemed to be rather hurt on the reminder of such a memory as he saw her lower head to look at the ground, not at the man as he then finished his apology, "If I'd known, I would have stopped him."

Slightly ticked off at the late apology, Anthony folded his arms and said, "Well, if you were more cautious around Lucien, her sister and her would at least be together instead of her being alone." He didn't know that he was supposed to be silent until he felt someone kicked the back of his leg, causing him to fall down on to the stone floor. Sparrow turned to look back at Elias who seemed to be whistling innocently as he hid his katana behind his back. During that little fiasco, Marcos noticed the Cullis Gate turning on and revealed two figures exiting it. One was Hammer and the other was a bit familiar.

It was Allen and he had changed his outfit as well. He now wore what looked like a gas mask over his lower half of his face, showing to small cylinders popping out of the cheeks as his black hair was still the same length. His clothing was a green vest that was cut just at the end of his ribs as it showed a tight black no sleeve short underneath that was tucked into pair of khaki pants. The pants were held up with two brown belts as he had a large red belt wrapped around his waist, holding various pockets that would most likely hold what an average ninja would have as his arsenal. His pants were tucked into mid calf brown boots. The added touch to his knew clothing was a rather long white scarf that was wrapped around his neck, leaving a long length to flow behind him.

Once he reached them, Sparrow noticed that the scarf barely brushed the ground. "It's good to see that you are well, Sparrow," Allen said in a muffled tone as his voice was once again lower by the mask he wore. Sparrow smiled and said, "I see that you changed from a bit more brighter look, Allen." This caused the Hero of Strength to pat her Keeper's back, causing him to cough a bit. "Yeah, he lightened up thanks to Elias and their travels."

Feeling a bit cocky, Elias just sniffed as he said in a New York accent, "Well... ah... it's no big really. I just wanted a help the guy out, is all."

"Anyways, sorry it took so long," Hammer apologized. "Lucien's men were all over the place."

"We know," Rook stated, obviously still pissed that he had to deal with them nearly every day for ten years. The mage apprentice noticed that his master step up and heard him say, "You must be Hammer." The tone of voice the old man used made Rook feel like he should really make everything just go by fast. He knew that his master had a tendency to get on the bad side on people who were less intellectual than what he considers to be "average".

Sensing the tone, Hammer returned with her own tone of distrust, "And you must be Garth, Lucien's lackey." Anthony had started to notice the tension starting to build as he then quickly added, "Ex-lackey, remember?" But he went unheard as Garth said, "I was made to understand you might be distrustful. I didn't anticipate your staggering wit and intellect."

Although they went unheard, Marcos and Jonnathan light out an "oh" just like whenever their friends "got told" by each other. Not wanting to see a fight just yet, Elias quickly got between the two and said, "Look you guys, this isn't the time to fight!" He was then ignored as Hammer stepped forward, not seeing that she placed her foot right on top of his own. Elias held back a scream of pain as Allen just looked rather amused while Rook just whispered the word "karma". Hammer then said, "**Oh yeah? And did you anticipate that I like to take a hammer and whack smug little spell-fingers?**"

Anthony then shouted, "Enough you two!" This caused them to look at him as he then put a serious face on and said, "If we are going to continue to be on the same side, we might as well work together." Theresa then said in a rather calmer tone, "This is not what we're here for." She then turned to Sparrow and said, "Hammer has some information on the third Hero."

It was too much to ask for a peaceful debriefing as Garth then said aloud, "Mostly gathered from a tavern, I hear?" At this time, Elias had finally pulled his foot from Hammer's foot, trying his best to message the pain away from his toes. She seemed madder as she then held her weapon in both hands as she said, "Not one, lots of them. I did a proper tour."

After their little exchange, everyone then looked at her as the Hero of Strength then reported. "Right, I think the bloke the Thief is a pirate called Reaver." The name suddenly caused Anthony to hear a buzzing sound in his head, wondering why it sounded familiar, but shook it off to hear more of the information on this man. "He runs the port of Bloodstone, to the southwest."

Garth seemed to be in disbelief as he said, "And you got this from some drunk?"

Mad already at the mage, Hammer then said, "Yeah? He sailed with Reaver for years. Said they captured hundreds of ships." Jonnathan seemed to be a bit skeptically too as he said, "A lot of pirates in this day and age go around capturing ships. I don't get what so special about this one." He felt a nudge to his side as Marcos whispered, "Do you seriously want to be picking sides between those two, right now?"

Hammer then started to talk in a voice of amazement as she said, "Reaver takes down galleons with one bullet. High winds, rough seas, a mile away, it doesn't matter: he picks off the captain. The more impossible the shot, the quicker the crew surrenders." Anthony Rook let a whistle as he said, "Wow, that guy must be a better marksman than Mister Twinkle toes here." Elias glared at the mage apprentice as he lifted middle finger toward the man before slowly stand up, slightly limping on his foot.

"Impressive," Garth said in a tone that had a hint of amazement, but it was pushed away when he continued. "But we're not trying to make Lucien surrender."

"Whoa, are we talking about **the** Reaver here?" Elias shouted, catching everyone's attention. He then limped toward Allen and said, "Dude, we met the guy!" As if those words were a key, Allen's eyes widen and said, "Oh my god, you're right. Man, that guy was an asshole!" Elias let out a laugh and said, "Yeah, he sure is full of himself. And to top it off, he is a b-"

The black haired man stopped himself, taking a glance over to Anthony. He then realized that no one in this room knows about Reaver except for him. Thankfully, the man didn't do anything to him when they first met, but Elias decided to wait and see what would happen if he didn't say anything with his own will. As his blonde friend question the sudden pause, Elias just said that he should stop talking shit behind someone's back as he then lied, "He's actually a great guy once you get to know him. Hell of a marksman for sure."

Anthony then stepped forward and said, "Well, we can't just stand here. We might as well get to Bloodstone as soon as possible." He then saw Theresa step forward and said, "Bloodstone is surrounded by Wraithmarsh on three sides and ocean on the fourth." After hearing this, the blonde let out a groan as he kicked the chair and shouted, "**Fucking great balls of fury!**"

**Lisa: Okay... not something he would say but it has a nice ring to it.**

"No matter," Garth then spoke. "We can reach it via cullis gate."

Theresa turned to look at him as she stated, "Not this one. It leads only to Hero Hill." Everyone then noticed the smirk on the old man's face as Hammer said with a bit of intrigue, "Got another one handy, have you?" Garth nodded his head as he turned to look at Rook and asked, "Have you been working on it?" The mage apprentice shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "It's not like I had anything to do while waiting for those Spire Guards to come and attack the tower, which I think they might have succeeded since I haven't been there for more than a week."

"So you seriously have a cullis gate at your tower?" Marcos asked. Garth nodded his head and said, "I built one. It can get us to Wraithmarsh." Slightly hopeful, the short Mexican asked, "Does it work?" Garth seemed to lose a bit of the confidence after that question as he confessed, "It will take some time to activate, but it should work."

"Should?" Hammer repeated, giving everyone a slight sense of disbelief. Theresa then spoke, "You must do this together. Since Rook's absence, Lucien has sent men to guard Brightwood tower." Jonnathan groaned as he leaned his back and stated, "**Man, we are fucked!**"

"Not unless we come up with a plan," Anthony stated, getting everyone to look at him. Seeing a bit of a mischievous look in his eyes, Elias then said, "Oh man, I get the feeling that we are going to have some fun at last. You got a plan, Anthony?" The blonde put on a confident look as he said, "I got a plan that is so great, that it will send those Guards running from the tower, and maybe give us a bit of fun since the bandits here are growing a bit slow." As Elias high-fived Allen who seemed also eager, Sparrow just sighed and was a bit thankful that her Keeper didn't lose the cocky attitude that he came with in the beginning. She just hoped he still didn't have the scaredy cat look he did back when they first fought together.

**To Be Continued...**

**Review Reply**

**To both Elias': Okay, I know one of them is the actual guy in which the story is based on. BTW, if you are doing this as a joke, I just hope you don't do too much of it or you might get the multiple personality disorder like me, Elias.**

**Disoriented soul: Yeah... he is good with a gun, but still needs to work with the cowboy twirl. Thanks for the review. And no it's not the end! We still have to find the third Hero and his Keeper since Hannah, Garth, and Sparrow have theirs.**

**TheNutty1: Hiya, nutty. Sorry I haven't been checking your story lately. I've been a bit busy and when I check my email alerts, I delete them since I've been getting random messages lately from other sites. I'll check out your story in a little bit and see how it's going. I gotta thank one of my friends who also reads your story. She likes it too. Also, we can't answer the last question since that'll ruin the whole story. Sorry, nutty.**

_Please review and reply please._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9  
Brightwood Tower Assault & Enstranz**

It was now night time when they finally reached Brightwood, which didn't surprise Anthony much since the last time they were here, it was dark as well. He was a bit happy that there wasn't any rain to darken the mood even more as they soon reached the gates in which he and Sparrow had gone through eleven years ago. The gates seemed to be a bit rusted, but looked like they were cared for even after these years. He glanced at Rook who then said, "I doubt it'll be easy like last time." Hearing those words, something snapped in the blonde's head as he shouted, "That was easy?! All those guards were out to kill us! We were lucky that these guys decided to fall from the sky at that moment before something really bad happened!"

Marcos and Jonnathan just stared at the pointed finger by their friend while Elias sniffed and said proudly, "Well, I do have a knack for showing up in time." This caused his two friends to smack the man's head, making him pitch forward a bit. Anthony just shook his head as he then said, "So this is where we split up, guys."

Everyone nodded their heads as they separated into two groups: Marcos, Elias, Jonnathan, and Allen were the decoy team and Sparrow, Anthony, Garth, Rook, and Hammer were the infiltration team. "Can't we have cool team names?" Marcos whined as he dropped his shoulders, causing Jam to nearly fall off and into the dirt ground but he quickly scoot back as kept his grip on his master's shoulder.

Doogal barked as he then attempted to get on Anthony, causing the blonde to shout in surprise. "Aw come on, Doogal!" he shouted as the dog was already clinging on to him with all of his paws. "You're already too big so get off!" He heard the dog whine at him and turned to see it giving him puppy eyes. He chose to ignore the attempts of pity as he then said, "Look, we need to do this fast since they seem to be sending more and more every day. Marcos, you and your team head off through those gates and take on any enemy that gets in your way."

Jonnathan then said sarcastically, "Oh great, we are going to be the bait while you get to go on the awesome journey!" Elias then turned away as he muttered to his own self, "It won't be fun once they walk through the cullis gate." Allen looked at him with a confused look but brushed it off as he then heard Anthony said, "We'll go through the back way that Rook told me about and work our way up to the bridge of the tower. If you get rid of all your guys in your end, meet us up there so that way, we can all get to Bloodstone with no trouble."

As Sparrow's group left to take the hidden path, Marcos looked up to the sky and noticed some water starting to fall from the sky. "I got a bad feeling about this," he said as Jam trilled in agreement, his antenna not wagging as it felt tense as well.

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"I don't get why we have to take over just this tower," said Michael the Spire Guard as he talked to his friend, Phil. The two were standing on the steps as their Commandant stood and was being more watchful than them. Phil just shrugged his shoulders as he scratched his neck the best he could since his collar was in the way. "We just do what we are told, Mike. If we disobey, you do know what happens." He pretended to be choking and getting electrocuted, causing his friend to laugh hysterically but both quickly went silent when they saw movement in the path. Both stood in a battle stance with their pistols pointed at the path as suddenly, a small figure came into view.

It had a large head covered with fur that was connected to a small green goo-ish body. The eyes were big and cute in a woman's point of view and there was a green antenna on its head. It walked toward them and then sat just a few feet in front of them. It tilted its head with a curious aura starting to surround it as then Michael suddenly said, "Aw, cute!" Phil was taken back when those words came out of his friend's mouth before he then looked down at the creature, seeing it starting to growling and showing really large teeth. This caused to the two to jump back before they were heard someone shout, "**ATTACK!**"

Michael looked up just in time to see four figures running toward them before he felt something enter into his head, causing a quick and painless death.

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Elias shouted in glee as he said, "**Boom! Head shot!**" He held his pistol, which was still smoking from being fired as then the other guard started to charge at them. Allen then jumped down from somewhere above and quickly used his kunai to slice open the man's throat, destroying both the man's collar and breathing. Allen twirled his weapon around with his index finger as he stood up, not looking back when the others joined with him. Jonnathan had a smirk as he held out his dual daggers with a dragon handle. Marcos held his katana like Riku does in Kingdom Hearts, his mask covering his face. Elias calmly walked as he stood with them, all standing in a line and staring at the guards coming at them with full force. Marcos then saw the leader of the squad about to send a spell on them, maybe Force Push.

Smirking at this, he was the first to charge at the enemy as he then swung his arm like he was throwing something suddenly all the guards were sent back by some unknown force. Elias and Allen looked surprised as then they heard Jonnathan said, "He's not the only one with new tricks, guys." They then watched as he lowered his sleeves, revealing some kind of large band was around them. He unclipped them as they fell to the floor... hard. The ground dented as the two braces hit the floor. Jonnathan did the same to the ones around his lower legs as he then charged at the guards with amazing speed. He passed all the guards and stopped just on top of the stairs. Elias watched as slice wounds appeared on their enemies' bodies, making them immobile and more likely dead due to the fact that most of the blows were aimed at the neck and wrists.

He then heard Allen whistle and said, "They sure have come a long way from being just... what do you call them from your time, noobies?" Elias just laughed as he then felt Jam climb up his back and perch on his shoulder, trilling in content. He then looked at the ninja and said, "We better hurry and fight or else I won't hear the end of it if Jonnathan tells our friends back home that he learned how to fight like Rock Lee?" He then just sighed in dismay when Allen asked who that man was before they headed off to help the other two fight their way through.

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Sparrow didn't seem that please that there wasn't that many people who were blocking their way. The only large amount of people she saw that attempted to stop them was on the bridge that connected the back path to the land that the tower was on, and there were only seven guards and two commandants. However, when they reached the front entrance, they saw the bulk of the defense getting destroyed rather harshly by Marcos and Jonnathan. She was slightly caught by surprise when she saw that even if their faces were covered, they seemed to giving off a rather dark aura that seemed to close to blood lust.

She wasn't the only one as Anthony was frozen in his spot for that second, wondering how his friends had suddenly become dark. He thought he hallucinated when he saw a flash of horns through Jonnathan's head, but brushed it off when they weren't there anymore. He then ran forward with Sparrow as he had his hand out in front of him, letting sparks going to his right open palm. Sparrow seem to understand what to do as she pulled out her pistol with her left hand as both of them stopped, standing side by side as they shouted aloud, "**Lightening Barrage!**"

Sparrow then pulled the trigger as the bullet suddenly split into bits with the lightening and seemed to act like homing missiles and attached themselves on to the Spire Guards. They watched as the guards started to be consumed by streaks of electricity as Anthony forced Sparrow to look away, hearing only the screams of pain as the light then blinded everyone.

Once the light disappeared, they looked to see that only the two last Commandants were standing alone as the closest one to the two threw a fireball at them. Garth quickly stood in front of them and summoned a shield to protect them. The man didn't seem to stop throwing fireballs while his partner charged at Allen and Elias who evaded a rather speedy attack. "Damn! We can't get to the gate if we keep fighting like this," Elias thought as he then noticed that Hammer had taken down the last Spire Guard who was guarding the entrance to the tower. While evading the enemy's attacks, he yelled, "**Sparrow, get to the tower now! We can take care of these guys!**"

Sparrow was about to decline the offer when Anthony said, "You better not die on us, guys! I expect to see you all after you get rid of these guys here!" With a nod from the black haired gunslinger, Anthony pulled Sparrow away quickly and led her into the tower, followed by Hammer, Garth, and Rook. This left the others to fight off against the last of the small defense as Marcos was able to distract the Commandant that had attacked Sparrow's team with a Force Push, sending him into the ground. Jonnathan then dashed toward the fallen enemy and forced his daggers into the man's heart and throat. He pulled it out with haste as he turned to see Allen suddenly appearing behind the last Commandant and making a horizontal slice at the neck area. The man then fell down in a thud as his head rolled over to Elias who looked at it with a bit of disgust.

He then saw the blood fest that they created as the whole area was now filled with dead Spire Guards. Upon seeing this, he sighed in distress and said to himself, "Rook's going to get pissed at us later... I just know it." He then walked toward the steps where he met with his friends who looked equally tired as he was. Jonnathan briefly took off his hood to wipe the sweat from his forehead as Allen got a quick glance at the man's face. "You got blue eyes?" he questioned as Jonnathan just shrugged and ignored the statement as he pulled his hood back on, covering his eyes once again. Marcos then said, "Since we are done here, I guess we should just head up there then."

As the group nodded their heads, they stopped as they heard a rather loud rumbling sound. Turning to the source, they all saw a rather large floating upside down pyramid that was heading for the top of the tower. Elias suddenly realized what was about to happen as he quickly headed for the entrance. The other three followed as well but before they could finish running up the last small stairs, a lightning strike hit the ground in front of the entrance to the tower as it began making white ripples on the ground. Elias twirled his pistols a bit before holding them correctly and aimed at the ripple, waiting for the squad to come. Allen had his ninja stars out as his white scarf was flowing in the wind. Marcos then pulled his katanas out and held them like a Sith from Star Wars. Jonnathan held his daggers regularly, waiting for the opportune moment.

Then, Elias was caught by surprise when the ripple stopped, only letting one lone man standing in their way. He had dark blue hair that was streaked back like Axel from Kingdom Hearts II but a black blindfold covered his eyes. He wore a vest that had its sleeves torn off and a pair of dark brown baggy cargo pants. Black boots with belt straps covered his feet and lower legs as the cargo pants were tucked into them. What really caught the group's attention was that on his forearms were large straps that had blades attached to them as they were stuck to the side of the arms. The man looked up at them as he said, "So... I get the feeling some of you guys aren't really around from here." He stopped just a few feet in front of them as he then got into a fighting stance; his arms out on his sides then placed them above each other in front of himself. The long blade gleamed in the moonlight as some rain patter on their forms.

Seeing that no one was going to answer, he then said, "Well, the name's Entranz and I'm…" He then suddenly disappeared as the small group began to glance around for him. Allen suddenly felt a presence above him as he then looked up just as Entranz brought his arms down, slicing downward on the ninja's wrist.

"…You're escort to the _Afterlife_…"

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Anthony cutting down the guards that threatened to get even a yard of Rook or Garth as Sparrow and Hannah were fighting the continuing waves of Spire Guards and Commandants. He nearly cursed again as the large Shard kept on dropping off guards that kept trying to break through their three-man defense. He had a couple close calls as he kept checking if his head was still on or if his neck was sliced up.

Sparrow evaded a double attack as she fired her pistol, killing two birds with one stone as the guards fell down, only to be replaced with four more. Angered by this, she shouted at Garth, "**You better hurry up with that or we'll be finding a different destination pretty soon!**" Hannah turned to say her own words to encourage the reopening of the cullis gate when she suddenly noticed movement just two feet behind Garth. A Spire Guard had crept past them and was about to deliver a fatal blow to the Hero of Will. "**Garth, look out!**" she called out.

Garth turned, becoming slightly distracted as he saw the Spire Guard was about to kill him. Suddenly, a group of blades suddenly appeared above him to pierce into the guard's chest and sending him far and over the edge and down to the ground below. The Hero of Will looked to the source of the spell, seeing Rook lower his hand back on the cullis gate as he kept recharging it with the Shock Spell. "Come on, Garth," Rook shouted. "We're almost done!" The old man nodded his head as he also used the Shock Spell on the portal, seeing it start to glow. Anthony quickly glanced back to see what had happened before he then decided to try something he had learned. He was thankful that Wolf had taught him the hand gestures and how to channel his Will. As he did the gestures, he then grabbed his right wrist with his left hand as the palm faced upward like he was holding a ball. Suddenly, electricity started to wrap around the right hand and focused mostly in the palm. He saw that the guards that were going to attack him just stared in awe by this as Anthony smirked and charged at them, shouting, "**Chidori!**"

He then placed the lightening on to the Spire Guard that was closest and stood in place to send the man flying off the railings with two other guards, leaving only a small hint of electricity sparking around where they once stood. He smirked as then pulled out his katana to parry with a Spire Guard who attempted to catch him off guard. "Is this all you guys got?" he shouted as he then noticed that about twenty more took place the three he had sent away. He felt Sparrow's glare on his back as he shouted, "I'm sorry if we don't our own flying piece of shitty rock that holds unlimited supply of minions to fight for us."

"If only Allen was here," Hannah stated as she swung her weapon downward on to one of the enemy's head. "He could more than likely revive the dead to help us!"

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Allen fell to the floor as he held his hands to his chest, desperately to trying to will the pain away as blood kept seeping through their cuts on his wrists. "Damn... I feel... a bit faint," he muttered as Elias was trying his best to find the right potion. He soon found a small bottle with green liquid as he was ready to open it. He then saw movement as he shoved Allen back and then jumped the other direction, both avoiding Entranz's attack on them. Elias then threw the potion to Allen who caught it with his scarf and poured the contents on to his wrists. Entranz was ready to slice downward on the ninja but was blasted back by Marcos who used Force Push. After shouting a quick thank you, Allen felt the potion working as the pain slowly but surely faded away. Looking down, he saw the wound slowly fade away, leaving only a thin line before it was completely gone.

Marcos was now the center of the man's attention as Entranz continuously tried to land a punch or a cut on the man who kept on avoiding the deadly blows. "Hold still, you damn monkey!" Entranz demanded as he made another attempt as Marcos jumped back to land closer to the entrance of the tower. He turned around to try and run inside, but he then saw Entranz standing in front of him at that second. He thought he was about to die as Entranz aimed to do an uppercut but he felt a rope tie around his waist and pulled him backwards and down the stairs. He looked back to see his pet, Jam, holding the rope and trill in glee that he saved his master. "Nice job, Jam!" Marcos praised as he then stood up and Jam quickly sat on his master's left shoulder.

"Kipa!" it shouted as if trying to make a battle cry as Marcos then said, "Let's try to combine our attacks!" Jonnathan looked a bit skeptically as he stood with his friend, twirling his daggers as he said, "Are you nuts? With the way things going, he can more be using some spell to stop time!"

After hearing that, Elias suddenly realized that Jonnathan was actually right. He had kept seeing the man pause briefly before suddenly having such great speed and skill. He just had to find out the gesture the man does before casting a spell. He pushed his cloak a bit off his leg, revealing a strap with many gun clips for his pistol; a gift from Theresa which caused the poor guy to cringe at the thought. It was then he saw Entranz about to place his hands together was when he knew it was time to strike. He aimed right for the man's hands as he fired two shots, hitting directly on their targets. Entranz stumbled a bit as he then stood with his hands hanging in front of him, a hole in each as the blood started to flow out of them.

"Shit..." Entranz cursed as he glared up at Elias. "You damn... bastard..." Elias then noticed that the cloth over the man's eyes was starting to fall off, showing just his left eye. Just as he saw that eye, he was about to think the man was about to cry in pain when a substance started to fall from them. However, he saw that the tears weren't clear, but red... like blood.

But it wasn't the blood tears that were bothering him; it was the fact that the eyes seemed too familiar. His thoughts were interrupted when Marcos shouted, "**You guys, throw all your weapons at the guy!**" The short man then glanced at Elias and said, "Well you have to shoot, not throw, **but you get the idea!**" Jonnathan didn't hesitate as he then threw his daggers at Entranz as did Allen with his kunai and ninja stars. Elias shot all the bullets he had in the clip and then quickly sent a spell of Blades at Entranz. During their little tossing bit, Marcos was charging up his Force Push spell to its highest as he then aimed it Entranz, sending the weapons at full speed.

The man didn't have time to think as he was pushed back on to the tower wall and was pierced by all the bullets and knives that they threw at him. Jonnathan's dagger had pierced Entranz's heart while Allen's ninja star embedded itself into his head. All huffing and puffing with fatigue, Marcos fell to his knees as his arms ached from the strong use of Will. Jam cuddled into his master's neck as the Mexican wearily raised his hand to pet its furry head. Jonnathan headed toward the body with Allen, wanting to retrieve their weapons. Elias just stood there as he looked up to the tower, feeling as though he should hurry before something bad happens.

As he then entered the tower, Jonnathan pulled his dagger from Entranz's dead body when he noticed something. Curiosity got the best of him as he reached up and pulled the cloth over the man's eyes. Seeing the familiar dazed look in the man's eyes, he called out to Marcos in a cautious tone. The Mexican walked up and slowly went to them as Jonnathan moved out of the way. Marcos looked up at Entranz with slight confusion before he soon realized how the man really looked.

Even though the person didn't seem to know them nor have the same quiet demeanor as the man they had come to know in their junior year in high school, the man had a striking resemblance to the man back at home in which they had nicknamed "Cell." The hair was obviously not the same as the emo style their friend has donned on himself, but the face was too familiar as Marcos said, "What the hell does this mean?"

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Elias ran up the stairs and took down two Spire Guards before he reached his destination, seeing that his friends and comrades were nearly getting overrun. Rook had to stop charging the cullis gate and started protecting his master while Anthony kept throwing lightening at any enemy that got within five feet near him. Elias joined the fight as he had replaced his pistol with full bullets as he continued shooting at the enemy. A sudden quake had stopped him for just a second as he noticed the familiar aura coming from the cullis gate. "**It's open, now get going!**" he heard Garth say to Sparrow as he then used the Blades spell to pierce at a Commandant that was going to use Force Push. Sparrow nodded as she quickly went to the gate with Doogal who then barked violently.

Wondering why the canine was barking, Elias then noticed that on the bridge, he saw a Spire Guard holding a Master Crossbow and was aiming it at the Hero. He wasn't the only one as Anthony quickly moved the best he could as Elias noticed everything suddenly go slow motion. The sound of a string snapped echoed in his ears as the arrow flew toward its target, aiming for her head. Sparrow turned to look Death's eyes as Anthony suddenly jumped between them, getting the arrow to the side. That's when time continued moving normally as Sparrow tried to catch Anthony but stumbled from the weight as both of them and the Hero's faithful dog fell into the cullis gate.

Elias moved to follow them, but once the two had entered it, the whole tower shook violently, causing nearly everyone to stop fighting. All he could remember before blacking out was a bright light and a figure entering the gate before it collapsed...

_In Wraithmarsh..._

Sparrow felt her body being torn apart which was unusual as the cullis gate should let her feel nothing. She then had the feeling of solid stone below her feet as she stumbled to the ground, still holding Anthony over her shoulder. She tried to stay conscious as she heard her dog bark to his master before suddenly disappearing. Her mind was starting to go blank as she then saw a figure suddenly loom over them and had a dark smile crease over his old facial features.

**To Be Continued...**

**Disoriented soul: Shut up, Alma! I don't eat bread! BREAD DOES NOT MAKE ME HYPER!!! . And of course I put "Ninja" in here... XD**

**Elias: Psh... you wish you were the best gunman... if this was really Elias that me and Alma know...**

_Please review and reply soon!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the long update. I have a lot things juggling between the fan fictions, a YouTube project I'm doing, and college. Hope you like this one.**

**Chapter 10  
Escorted through Wraithmarsh & Stalker Status**

Feeling the cold floor and the fact that his body was still in pain, Elias knew that he was still alive from the blast. He pushed himself off the floor to look around, realizing that he had returned back to the Chamber of Fate in the Guild, along with the other heroes. Rook was already awake as he and Garth were reading through the notes that Theresa made from Lucien's diary. Allen was helping Hannah up since she was sitting on Marcos who was starting to lose breath from the weight. Jonnathan was near the cullis gate, looking like he was waiting for someone to step out. Elias slowly got up and walked toward his hood friend, saying, "I don't think staring at it is going to make you go anywhere," Elias joked before Jonnathan turned his head. Elias's smile disappeared as Jonnathan said, "The cullis gate isn't working properly."

The man turned to look at his friend. "Does this mean they won't be able to come back?"

Elias felt that the words that would answer his friend's question were about to fly out of his mouth, but he kept it shut. He had already made a silent pact to not reveal anything that would occur since it would happen no matter what they tried to do. However, it has been nearly ten years which made his memory a bit fuzzy on the events that would come so it would be pointless to open his mouth and spout out nonsense that could be wrong. He then said, "You should know by now that none of us will chose to die that easily." Jonnathan then chuckled at the comment before walking away from the portal, saying he needed some rest.

Luckily, they were able to make a sleeping quarters for everyone, each having their own "room". At the current moment, Elias thought that was a good idea as he glanced back at the portal before heading to his own bed, wanting to sleep off the fatigue that was threatening to make him fall unconscious again.

_**Wraithmarsh**_

Vision and life returned to Sparrow as she felt herself lying on a wooden floor, looking up at a wooden ceiling. She then noticed that someone was there with her as she sat up, seeing Anthony unconscious and also looking unwell. The arrow was still in his side as the blood had already coagulated around it, leaving a small puddle under him. She quickly sat up to find that it was hard to maneuver. Looking around, Sparrow realized that she and her Keeper were inside a cage carriage.

The Hero then noticed movement as she looked through the bars, seeing a rather elderly man walking toward them with a lit torch. He had a disgusting sneer on his face, showing that he had lost some teeth due to lack of hygiene. He wore regular villager clothing but it was obvious that he was no regular villager because of bad hygiene, it was torn and faded. The people in past Westcliff looked cleaner than him. He got close to the bars as he then looked at her and then at Anthony before saying to himself, "Is it alive?"

Sparrow inched closer to Anthony who was still unconscious from his wound. The girl glared at the old man as he then looked at her with the sneer, "You had a dog with you, there like. It ran off into the fog." She stayed quiet as she just stared at the man with a glare. The old man laughed while coughing as he then continued, "The banshees'll have it by now. You've seen the last of that mongrel. I can tell you."

Sparrow lowered her gaze in sadness, finding it hard to believe that Doogal would just run off and get killed in this sad place. She looked down at Anthony as he then cringed as his left hand tried to reach for the arrow still in his side. Sparrow stopped him, not wanting the wound to bleed again.

"You from Bloodstone, eh?"

The Hero looked back at the old man as he seemed to be trying to get a whiff of her. A face of disgust crossed her face as she scoot farther from him, still keeping close to Anthony. As the man stopped smelling her, he stepped as he scratched his chin and said, "No... no. You ain't got the stink of it about you." He then smirked and said, "Tis a wicked place. Would be burnt to the ground if there was any justice." He then stopped speaking to himself as he then looked at her again directly and said, "So, what do I do about you two?"

He then inched the lit torch near the wooden part of the cage carriage as he said, "Reckon I'll burn you as well." He chuckled as he was ready to keep his word when the area around them was surrounded in fog. Sparrow saw it come rather fast for a weather change as the old man then noticed it too. He then turned around, holding his lit torch to guide him as he then walked farther and farther away. Sparrow figured that he had heard something that pulled his attention from her as he then disappeared into the fog.

It was only a few minutes later when she heard the man's voice.

"_No – no, please!_"

After those begging cries, there was a loud screech followed by the man screaming in pain. Just seconds after those voices ended, the fog disappeared, revealing a figure lying on the ground. Fear suddenly set in as she tried to find a way to open the cage. She reached for her pistol but only realized that it wasn't on her. Looking downward to the side of the cage that was opposite to the door of it, she saw that she and Anthony's weapons were on the ground, along with their bag of potions and supplies.

"_You should be able to hear me now._"

Sparrow yelped a bit but that didn't stop her to do it twice when she heard a groan. Looking down, she saw Anthony opening his eyes as he said, "Great... the thing that wakes me up is that old woman's voice... I got to find a girlfriend..." Sparrow chuckled as she knelt down and asked, "Are you able to move?"

Anthony stared up at her as he asked, "It would be rather nice to be asked if I was alright, but then I might have acted like a real douche bag if you did. And to answer your question, not really." He lifted his head to look down at the arrow that was still in my side. "It would be nice to get this piece of stick out of my body."

"_You're alive._"

"Nice to hear you care, Theresa," Anthony sarcastically thanked as he then laid his back on the wooden floor.

"_The cullis gate malfunctioned and the others were sent back to the Guild. You've made it to Wraithmarsh._"

"Thanks for stating the obvious, lady," the blonde man said who was quickly silence when Sparrow purposely slapped his stomach area, making him cringe and yelp in pain. She smirked as Anthony glared up at her.

"_But you two are on your own for now._"

The two then heard a loud bark as Sparrow turned to look at the gate, seeing Doogal in all his furry glory and holding a ring with a key in his mouth. Sparrow smiled happily as she went to the door to get the key. Once opening the door, the dog quickly jumped on to her and licked her face happily. "_Well. You're not entirely on your own,_" Theresa said.

Anthony lifted his right arm as he waved and said, "Uh... hello? Guy with arrow in the side still nearly dying here..." It took a half an hour for Sparrow to carefully extract the arrow out, fully dress the wound, and have them rest for a bit before they headed off to leave Wraithmarsh.

Problem was...

Anthony looked in all directions of the area, seeing nearly the same thing except for a road that lead into a small circle of houses. "Uh... so... where's the yellow brick road?" he asked.

...They didn't know where to go.

**Lisa: I swear, I accidentally turned off the gold line thingie and I got lost in Wraithmarsh... XD**

Sparrow sighed as she then chose to lead the way. Doogal walked beside his master but soon stopped when they heard a distant snap of a branch. Without any thinking, Sparrow pulled out her pistol and shot just into a tree to their left. Anthony jumped slightly at the sudden attack as he then heard a loud male voice shout in defiance. "**What in the nine hells do you think you are shooting at?!**" Anthony's eyes widened in recognition to the sound as he said, "I know that voice."

There was loud rustle as some trees were pushed apart, letting in a very pissed off Wolf. Anthony quickly recognized his trainer for the man looked like had even aged a day since his first day of training. "Wolf! It's great to see you, man," he stated as he ran up to the guy, both punching each other's fists as a sign of friendship. "Why are you out here in this place? I thought you were traveling."

"I was traveling, you damn blonde," Wolf snapped at him as he then glared at Sparrow. "Why the hell do you shoot before asking? You must have a really fucked up life in order to be shooting at people for no reason." It looked like the Hero was about to object to that statement when she stared at Anthony, making them both remember how they met Allen.

_**Chamber of Fate**_

Allen suddenly sneezed loudly as Marcos told him the universal saying when someone sneezes, "God bless you." Allen narrowed his eyes as he took off his mask, cleaning it off so it didn't start to smell disgusting. He then bluntly said, "I don't believe in God."

This caused the short Mexican to stare at him with disbelief. I mean, this was Alvaro's past self or ancestor or at least a part of him… why doesn't this guy believe in God while Alvaro works at a church?

Looking at his mask and seeing that it was now clean, Allen strapped it back on his face. Marcos seemed to be waiting for something as suddenly, Allen's eyes suddenly widened as he groaned in disgust. "Ah God! That's smells wrong!" The short Mexican began to laugh hysterically as he pointed at the ninja who was trying to take off his mask.

Rook was reading a book from afar as Hannah was busy practicing with her hammer. Not caring if anyone was listening to him, the mage apprentice said aloud, "In superstition, if someone were to sneeze, it means someone is either thinking or talking about you at that very moment." He then felt eyes staring at him as he then looked up to see Hannah just staring at her with the "you're a weird man" look. After shaking her head, she went back to swinging her hammer while Rook just shrugged and resumed reading the book he had, turning the page to continue.

_**Wraithmarsh**_

"So, do you know the area?" Anthony asked as they were still standing in the same spot. Wolf nodded his head and said, "This road leads to an old town that died many years ago, but I didn't care much to remember the name of the town." Just as he was about to lead, Anthony joked, "You forgot to ask about it?" Wolf stopped as he turned back to look at him with a serious look. He then said, "I rather not remember things that bring back bad ones."

Feeling that a dark tension was going to rise, Wolf then said, "We better get moving. I don't think the sun's gonna be coming up anytime soon." They then began to travel through Wraithmarsh which wasn't so bad if you just ignored the dark aura, the fog, and the fact that Doogal was practically clinging to Anthony's back the whole time they are walking. Anthony glanced back at Sparrow and bluntly said, "Are you sure this is really your dog?" Sparrow just sighed and continued walking, passing by Wolf who was standing still. He had a wary look on his face that soon changed to fear when Sparrow was entering into a circle of houses surrounding a well. "Wait! Sparrow!" he shouted, running to stop the girl. Anthony followed, not wanting to be left alone in the swampy area, but he then realized that he should have stayed back when the fog started to surround them.

"I got a bad feeling about this," the Keeper said as he then pulled out his katana, still feeling the dog's weight on his back. As if he had jinxed it, three figures began to fade in from the fog, revealing to what looked like women in a red cape and hood and a black dress with a corset. The faces could not be seen by the shadow of the hood, or it could be that there was no face at all. Wolf glared at Anthony and said, "Nice going, Anthony! The Banshees found us!"

"Those don't look like the floating motorcycles in Halo!" Anthony stated and mentally slapped his forehead when his two comrades gave him a confused expression. The Banshee in the middle then screeched, causing the other two to join in. Sparrow and Anthony quickly covered their ears. Wolf stood still as he then saw many shadows surrounding the creatures and took form of Shadow Children. "Get ready, guys!" he called out once the screeching stopped. "And whatever happens, ignore what they say!"

Unsure what he meant by that, Anthony felt Doogal jump off him and joins his master as she took the leader Banshee. Wolf had already tried slashing at the children who were protecting the right one, leaving Anthony with left Banshee. He didn't even notice it until it was practically in his face, causing him to look into the darkness of the hood.

_Close your eyes... You cannot escape the inevitable..._

"What the?" Anthony muttered as he had felt the words echoing through his head, as if they were his own thoughts. He then felt cold hands on his face as the Banshee got closer.

_It is your fault that your friends are here. They are all homesick... and now there isn't a way back home..._

"Shut up..." he muttered, lowering his head to try and get away from the creature, but she had a gentle grip on him. Sparrow saw this as she tried to call out to her Keeper. When the man wouldn't move, she was about to head over there when the Banshee that she was fighting gently grabbed her arm.

_Did you know Rose didn't die right away from that shot?_

This caught her attention as Sparrow turned her head sharply to look at the creature that had a gentle grip on her. Her hero mind was telling her to strike it down quickly and save Anthony, but her child wanted to know about Rose.

_No, she watched you fall through that window, heard as your body thudded against the ground, and cried bitter tears before a final shot from Lucien ended her life..._

"You be quiet!"

Sparrow snapped from her staring as Wolf jerked her away and aimed his blade at the Banshee. "You do not know any of this! Stop preying on her fears!" He then looked over his shoulder to stare at Sparrow as he said, "Don't let them touch you too long. They steal your life until there's nothing left." He then looked over to Anthony as his eyes widened in shock. Sparrow did also and came to the same reaction at the sight. Anthony was now deathly pale as he dropped his katana on to the water ground. His breath was starting to become visible as white smoke seems to appear every time he breathed.

"**Anthony!**" Sparrow shouted as she ran over to him and stopped when five Shadow Children blocked her way. As she proceeded to shoot them out of the way, Wolf was suddenly brought back to the Banshee that was still there as it stared down at him with her children surrounding him.

_Do you have no fear, creature?_

Wolf smirked as he said, "I've been in this place for so long, I guess I'm immune to your mind reading crap." He then pointed at his head and was about to kill the Shadow Children.

_Love wasn't to keep her with you..._

He stopped himself just as he was about to bring down his sword as he looked up in shock. He didn't say anything as he then returned to killing two of the Shadow Children. The creature didn't seem to care that her creations were being killed in front of her as she faded away and reappeared behind him. She lowered her head to near his ear.

_Do you think she will even remember what you have done? I'm sure __**he**_ _does..._

"You be silent, creature!" He demanded as he had killed all of her children and aimed the blade on her neck. He knew that a simple knife wound won't kill her, but he readied himself for a fire spell as his free hand started to glow red. "You know nothing of me or any of the lies you are spouting about!"

_Your jealousy towards them has cost not only their happiness, but probably her future as well..._

With anger swelling up, he released the fire spell as rings pulsed from him, setting everything on fire. He breathed very lowly as his body fell to its knees on the ground. He felt his hands shaking at his sides as he tried to regain his calm composure. He then quickly remembered as he ran toward Sparrow who was trying to reawaken Anthony. Upon seeing him, Wolf saw that his skin was seriously pale and his eye pupils were just small dots. His breathe sounded really hoarse as Sparrow started to look through their pack for any potions.

"Mere health potion won't heal this, Hero," Wolf said. He then had her place Anthony on his back, giving the Keeper a piggy back ride. "He needs to stay away from fighting for a few hours. Hopefully, we won't be facing anything on the way there." All hopes of that coming true were dashed when they heard a loud echo of screeching and growling. Readjusting his grip on the unconscious man, he then looked at his left hand to see blood. Cursing silently, he said, "We better camp out for the night soon. Looks like his wound isn't healing too well."

Sparrow hesitated for a second when Wolf stood and headed toward the path that wasn't submerged as she then followed the man. Walking down the path, she soon saw through the fog a small town just ahead. She was ready to run forward to call for a doctor when she stopped just before touching the water that submerged the town, connecting to the ocean. Surprise overcame her form as Doogal was standing next to her, looking up at his master with a worried look through his fur-covered eyes.

"That up ahead used to be a peaceful town."

She turned around to see Wolf gently placing Anthony on a flat mat that he had with him. He looked then at the submerged town and said, "But that place has seen so much turmoil in its history." Feeling hesitant, she then asked, "What... what happened here?" Wolf stared up at her as he took off Anthony's vest, revealing that the wound on his side had stopped bleeding due to his near-death experience. He then pulled out a roll of bandage and began wrapping it around the waist. As he did this, Sparrow waited for an answer until she realized that the man wasn't even going to answer it. Just as she was about to snap at the man, she heard a familiar voice echo through her head.

"_This used to be Oakvale, though it has changed radically I saw it last. And that was a long time ago. It has seen many a cruel deed._"

Sparrow was about to pull out her weapon when the voice seemed a bit calmer compared to the Banshee's voice which had a ring of eeriness to it. She then looked back at the water, listening more to Theresa's tale.

"_Six hundred years ago, bandits attacked the village and burned it to the ground. The survivors rebuilt their lives... only to have them destroyed a second and final time._"

The Hero could sense a hint of dread and despair echoing through the voice and her mind, as if this woman had seen the horrors that occurred in this place.

"_A new threat came from within. A reckless young villager made a deal with the forces of shadow, who took the lives of every other resident as payment... all of his family... all of his friends... everyone he loved..._"

After hearing those words, Sparrow then thought on how dreadful the person would have felt after making a deal with darkness, causing everyone they had ever known to just die. She knew she would never do such a dreadful thing, but she then decided to stop thinking of it so much as her thoughts would always analyze on both sides of any decision. That's how she got through it in the Spire with her good moral still intact.

"_And now, the marsh has engulfed the village, and Oakvale is nothing but a bitter memory._"

"Oakvale?" said a struggling voice. Sparrow turned to see Anthony try to sit up, but was only able to lift himself with his arms propped on the forearms. "I knew that place!"

"You were around the time this place was destroyed?" Sparrow said, thinking it was highly impossible, but she then remembered that he is technically from the future. Anthony shook his head and said, "I've... heard about it a lot and I saw some... drawings of it during the time you were at the Spire..." Wolf could tell that the man was completely lying but was more pissed that the girl seems to take that comment with such ease. When he saw the girl nod and look back at the water, he grabbed Anthony's collar and whispered, "_**You are so stupid, you know that?!**_"

"What?"

"_You have to learn to watch what you say around here, okay? I'm not sure if you have this... game I think it's called... but you have to watch what you say, got it?_" Wolf whispered more. Anthony then realized as he then whispered angrily back, "_Hey! I didn't even get to play this game when I first got it. I just get sucked in before I can even get passed the first stage so I don't even know what the fuck is supposed to happen! The only who knows is back at our base, probably hanging out or just lazing around!_"

Sparrow had suddenly appeared between them and asked, "What are you guys doing? Are you trying to have a moment?" Anthony had a sick look on his face while Wolf just stared back at her with no emotion. He then started to lie on the man, ignoring the protest and declarations of pain from the blonde. "Yes, we are. So if you don't mind, would look the other way?"

"**Get the hell off of me, you damn sick man!**"

He then tried to push the man, but twitched as his side was still wounded and just fell to the floor unconscious. Sighing, Wolf continued the charade as he stood up and said, "It's no fun when they aren't awake." Sparrow just looked at him with a blank but narrowed eyed look before she decided to rest for the night.

_**Bowerstone**_

It was several hours before Elias was walking through the busy streets of Bowerstone, watching people doing whatever they needed to do to pass the day. He sighed as he knew that in a couple of days, the final battle for Albion will begin, all depending on the past version of his friend and Anthony. He basically knew what was going to happen, but he wasn't sure how this whole "Keeper" ordeal could change the events. From all that has happened, nothing really changed except for the fact that he grew ten years older. Boy, he would have to get a job if he ever got back to the future.

"Um… excuse me?"

A young voice made the man turn to the source as he saw a young man wearing like those kids who give out newspapers in those old shows with the hat and brown vest. He had blue eyes and blonde hair and was a bit shorter than Elias. Looking around to make sure he wasn't talking to someone else, he then pointed at himself which caused the boy to nod his head. "Can you spare a few coins?" he asked as he held out a gloved hand. Elias saw that the fingers were bruised a bit and the knuckles were shown. The gloves just told him all he could take as he sighed in distress. He knew that he still owed Sparrow money ever since she left the Spire, and he was really short on money, but guilt and many of his friends' voices kept eating at him before he reached in to his pocket and took out his money bag. He took out a handful of coins and places them in his hand.

"Here you go," he simply said as he turned to walk toward Old Town. He only reached near the gate when he saw Tuck walking toward him with Shared and Hitsuguya who smiled and shouted, "Uncle Eli!" He ran to the man as he hugged him. Elias chuckle a bit as he returned the hug and said, "Good to see you, man." He heard Tuck laugh as he and his leader walked forward to them. "Any news on our heroine, lad?" Shared asked, obviously voicing the question Tuck was going to ask in a stuttering voice. The bandit leader received a glare from his right hand man before he looked anxiously for the man sighed.

"We attacked the Mage's tower, but only she and her Keeper got through," Elias said, wanting to keep it short. "The blast from the cullis gate knocked us all the way back to the lair and apparently we can't go there by teleporting anymore." Shared nodded his head as he said, "It's obvious that the Old Magic has weakened from the lack of usage unlike the old days. I heard Heroes were able to travel just about anywhere in the world with just a pendant they carried."

Elias nodded his head, mentally agreeing as he also played the first Fable game which now seemed harder to do than when he played its sequel. Boy was he lucky that Anthony didn't play that game that day or hell would only know what would have happened. Shared then said, "I better then take you and our new recruit to get a boat." Elias just stared at him as if wary when he said, "When you say 'get', you mean 'steal', don't you?"

All that Shared did was smirk as they walked back to the Market and downward to the docks. That's when Elias recognized the person standing there and staring at him; it was the man he had met earlier and who was asking for money. He was at the last staircase as he said, "I think I just got hassled of some of my coins." Shared chuckled as he said, "Leo, did you take money from this guy?"

The man nodded his head as he took off his cap, letting the short blonde hair flow out. It was really short which is typical for males, but his blue eyes were hiding something from Elias, but he wasn't sure what it was. Leo had nodded his head as he then pulled out the coins he had gotten from the man. "I really didn't need this," he stated. "I just wanted to see if you were generous enough to give money to people," Leo said as Elias took the money.

"Wow... thanks," Elias spoke, slightly taken off by the comment. However, the comforting aura that was coming from the money suddenly changed as he folded his arms over his chest and added, "Or maybe it's just your stupidity." He nearly had to use all the self-control he had in order to not take out his pistols and shoot the boy right then and there. Luckily, Tuck just poked him in the side, causing him to jump unexpectedly. When the man glared at him, Tuck said, "Look, all we're doing is going to go underwater to check out the Gargoyle Cave."

Elias nodded his head and was about to step up when he looked down at Hitsuguya. The boy was just standing beside his father, looking just curious. The black haired man cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention once again as he asked, "What about this kid? He's not seriously going to come with us, right?"

"I wanna see the statue thingies!" he shouted, his voice obviously matching his young age. Elias saw the blonde boy looked touched and then put on a sincere look before saying, "Aw, that's just so cute." Elias just felt shocked that a boy would say that especially by how old looking he was. Leo realized what he said as he regained his boyish composure and said, "However, I think the kid shouldn't come along."

"Well… someone is going to have to stay behind and baby sit my son since the baby sitter decided to go off and ran out on her boyfriend to go with some trader," Tuck said casually as Shared had a thinking look before he pointed at Leo and Elias. "You two are going to stay behind." This caused the future gunslinger to gawk as he protested, "I am not going to play baby sitter to a kid who can kick my ass already along with a boy who seems a bit feminine for a guy." Leo obviously looked hurt as he showed a face of anger at him.

Elias just brushed it off as Shared then pushed the three towards the stairs as he said, "Look, I'm getting tired of this nonsense right now, so let's just get you guys up into town before you have the guards come down here and arrest me for something stupid again." Tuck chuckled at the thought as he joked, "Like that one time when you were lured into their trap by the prostitute."

Once he was able to make the three go up to the town, he glared at Tuck as he snapped back, "That was uncalled for and I bet you that girl didn't know she was being followed." Tuck just shook his head as he walked toward the dock before diving into the water, followed by Shared. Elias watched them disappear into the river as he sighed in anguish before looking over to Leo who was holding Hitsuguya, baby talking to him.

Elias stared at nothing as he said, "I feel like I'm going to puke…"

_**Wraithmarsh**_

"We're gonna all die in this stupid swamp!" Anthony whined as he was getting a piggy back ride from Wolf who was irritated the fifth as they were now walking toward a marsh where a bridge was up ahead. Sparrow just giggled at the two who she still wondered if something was going on between them. As if sensing her thoughts, Anthony shouted aloud, "I am not gay! This guy is just spouting out nonsense for no reason whatsoever."

"Stop denying your feelings, Anthony," Wolf said as he looked back. Anthony punched the man; luckily he didn't tilt and fall, as he snapped back, "Stop making lies! You are seriously annoying, especially when you were my teacher!" Wolf just sighed in mock despair as suddenly the ground began to shake, causing everyone to be on their guard. "I've got a bad feeling about this," Anthony said cautiously before he smiled and announced, "Man I always wanted to say that!" Wolf just ignored it as he then dropped the man, also ignoring the shout of pain and anger from the man when he noticed the ground was beginning to rise, or more like something was coming from the ground.

A large golem appeared out of the ground, its voice roaring into the mist-covered sky. Everything just seemed to stand still for a couple of minutes before the golem roared in their faces while Anthony just shouted, "**AH! WHY?!**" The creature wasted no time to try to thrash them as it lifted its rock arms and brought them down. Wolf and Sparrow quickly jumped away in a safe distance. Wolf dropped Anthony behind the tree they had passed, causing the man to land right in the large gap between the roots. He was still immobile so all he could do was sit there and wait for anything to die down.

Just hopefully his friends won't be the ones dying.

Sparrow had her pistol out as she kept shooting at the little things that came out of it. Wolf did as well as he kept throwing what look like knives that came out of his furry sleeves… or cuffs. He seemed to have a really toothy grin as he seemed to suddenly have too much fun taking down a golem. She also finally noticed that his boots had a design similar to a dog's paw, but they seemed to be too real. He also had inhumane speed and strength. "Watch out, Sparrow!" he shouted, making her turn around just in time to evade an attack by a Hollow man. She quickly brought her pistol and shot its head, immediately killing it but only to realize there were more.

"Don't worry, Sparrow!"

She turned towards the source of the voice, seeing Anthony barely standing and holding his katana in his left hand. His right hand was busy holding his wound as blood started to seep through the bandage. "Anthony, get back!" she shouted, but Anthony then released his own grip on his wound as he held his katana with both hands. His eyes glared at the Hollow men as he let out a battle cry and charged at them. The creatures had forgotten about her and charged at the man, obviously to kill him.

It took so much to make her keep looking without wincing away for fear that her Keeper will die, but it disappeared when she saw the man be surrounded by a blue light. His body then had begun to be surrounded by the lightening that he could control. His eyes then glowed the same color as he raised his katana upward, making the sky darken more. The wind around them began to pick up as it started to rain.

"Sparrow! Move!" She heard Wolf shout as he then jumped from the golem then ran to her. He then carried her bridle style as he quickly jumped to the bridge and placed the woman on it as they watched Anthony being consumed by his own power. "Has this ever happen before?" she shouted to Wolf, who simply shook his head as the wind began to pick up. He then noticed that Anthony had already token down the Hollow men, all just disappearing. He wouldn't have been too surprised until he saw that instead of seeing the normal spirit disappearing in the air, they kept flying upward… as if they had finally found peace with themselves.

A sudden roar tore his sight from his pupil as he then noticed the golem ready to throw a very large boulder at them. Just as it was about to throw the large rock, it stopped as Anthony was now on its head. Due to its short arms, it couldn't grab the man who was easily standing above it. Wolf watched as his pupil raised his katana and stabbed the last weak spot, causing it to become consumed by the ground it was dormant in. Dust rose up as it blocked the view, causing Sparrow and Wolf to cover their eyes. Once it cleared, the Hero saw her Keeper standing on the mound, the katana placed into the ground. The man was still seething with visible power and anger and his eyes were still glowing. It soon stopped as the man's breath slowed down and eyes were normal. He collapsed to the floor so Sparrow ran over to her fellow comrade.

Wolf just stared down at them with shock. He had never seen that much power since…

He shook away the memories of his traitorous life as he quickly went to the two as Sparrow had called for his help, informing that the man's wound had opened again.

_**Bowerstone**_

"I'm not sure if we should give the kid sweets, Leo," Elias warned the man, but was completely ignored as he gave Hitsuguya a plate of chocolates from Jessica who owned the gift shop. Leo just smiled at him and said, "Oh come on, Elias. Don't need to be an uptight marksman." The man just shook his head as he looked down the street towards Old Town. He really wanted to get some rest since he wasn't really in the mood to actually go with these two.

"Hitsuguya, don't run too far off, okay?" Leo called out to the boy who ran toward a group of kids playing with a bouncing ball. The boy nodded his head as he ran to them, leaving the two men alone. However, Elias still doubted the man hadn't really past puberty or was even old enough to be considered an adult. Leo noticed him staring as he then asked, "Is there something on my face?" Elias shook his head as he said, "You sure act really weird for a man, you know that?"

"You sure act like it too, old man," Leo bluntly said, hitting a nerve as Elias turned red in anger as he shouted, "I'm not that old! I'm just…" Leo just laughed as he then noticed that the kids that Hitsuguya were trying to hang out with just walked away from him, leaving a sad child behind. The man and Elias became concern as they walked to him and Elias asked, "What's wrong, kid?"

The boy looked at him with tears in his eyes as he sobbed out, "They said they don't want to play with me!" Elias looked up to see the gossiping children walk away, eyeing at the boy like he was a... He shook away the sad thought as he knelt down and said, "I'm sure it's just a stupid reason, kid. How about we go back home?"

"Why was born with old man hair?" Hitsuguya bluntly asked, catching the two off-guard. Leo was shocked as he stammered a bit while Elias just stared at him with realization. Neither Sparrow nor Tuck had white hair as their natural color and he was sure that Sparrow didn't sleep with another man; she was a full blown version before the marriage between the two. The only real explanation was that their parents or ancestors had that gene and it stayed hidden during their generation. He shook off the thought as he said, "Because when you get older, you'll look like the best bad ass man ever and all those girls that brushed you off will fall for you and the boys will be jealous."

"Ew! I don't want girls falling for me!" Hitsuguya stated, obviously becoming the immature child that he should be. Elias patted the kid's head as he then urged him towards the book store to find something good to read. Leo sighed as he then laid his head on Elias' shoulder, causing the man to freeze in shock. He stammered a bit before he asked, "What are you doing?" Leo just looked up at him before placing his head back on his shoulder, answering in a casual tone, "I'm just tired so I just wanted to rest my head."

Elias stared down at him with disbelief as he then asked, "Are you gay?" It was only then Leo just shook his head that slowly got off his shoulder and said, "No, I'm not. Why you asking?" Elias placed his hands up in defense as he said, "Hey, I got nothing against that as long as you aren't hitting on me. I'm straight is all." He then muttered the last part. "And I blame Francy for having the guys in the group watch a yaoi comic..."

"What's 'yaoi'?" Leo asked but Elias just waved it off as he headed toward the stalls on the bridge, wanting to see if there was anything good to drink. He was quite happy that the drinking age didn't really matter at this time and age since practically once you can take up a sword; you're already considered an adult. However, his browsing for liquor stopped as he heard loud screaming from down the bridge towards the front gates of the city. Sighing in distress at the thought that bandits were trying to attack the city again, he was about to take out his pistol as he stood in the middle of the bridge when he saw the source of the commotion.

Heading towards him was a wild horse that apparently broke free from the carriage rider's stables. It didn't look to happy nor seemed to see where it was going except towards him. His mind went blank as he saw death coming right at him in the form of a horse... how sad is that?

However, just before it collided with him, he felt someone tackle him out of the way. He would have thanked the person but apparently, the force of the tackle was too much, causing the two to go over the stone railings and in to the river below the bridge. Water immersed itself upon the two as Elias opened his eyes in the river, seeing the person who saved him sinking downward to the bottom and sinking _fast_. He quickly swam towards the person and pulled them upwards towards the surface.

Once he hit the surface, he gasped for air as he felt the body he carried was limp. God, did the roles turn around in just a matter of seconds. He swam to the stairs of the docks as he laid the person on them face up. He tried to take as much oxygen he can before checking on the person who saved him. He looked and wasn't really surprised to see that it was Leo, but he then noticed that white shirt was sticking to a black vest underneath, a thin clothed one. He ripped the shirt open as he saw that it was a vest, but not a regular one that was supposed to be big and leathery. He then noticed that the man wasn't breathing, making Elias panic.

The first thing in his mind was the vest was obviously on too tight for the guy to even breathe after both of them did a dive into the water, which Elias noted that it was a tad too clean for it to be an _past_ river. He quickly unzipped it... and that's all his mind and body told him as he froze.

_**Bloodstone  
Inn**_

"Aw, you poor thing," cooed a young waitress in the inn as a large group of women were fawning over Anthony. Although the wound was nearly heal thanks to a spell that Wolf just happened to remember after the battle, it was barely a scar but he left the blood-covered bandage on just to keep getting the girls. Sparrow was staring with slight amusement as Wolf was taking a long swig of beer. Once he finished what was to be his tenth beer, he looked at Sparrow with a straight and sober face and said, "So you're gonna be recruiting Reaver?"

"Kind of obvious, is it not?" Sparrow said, but in a hush tone. Even though they were far away from the close lands of Bowerstone and Oakfield, she still feared that people here could be more loyal to Lucien than to the good of all of Albion. Wolf just shrugged as he motioned the bartender for more. "I'm just saying that you are going to have a hard time convincing this one to join you."

The Hero of Bowerstone just stared at him as she stated, "Seems like you know the guy personally."

"Yeah..." she heard the man groaned out in anger, unlike the other people who seem to praise Reaver like he was some kind of God... well mostly the women and the men who go that way. She didn't push the subject as Wolf just took the pint from the bartender and just threw the contents into his mouth, taking it all in own gulp. Letting out a satisfied sigh, he said happily, "Well, my work here is done! I'll see you guys around." He got up and grabbed his bag, heading towards Anthony as he playfully punched the guy's wound, causing him to wince badly.

The women were obviously mad at this as they cursed at him and cooed at the man, asking if he was okay. Sparrow decided to let this go on for a couple of hours as she looked down at her small cup of tap water. Drinking before talking to people wasn't really a good idea in any situation or even her situation as she took a small sip of it, letting it flow through her.

"Hello Rick, you have any extra gin on you?" asked a small timid voice. Sparrow looked to see a girl about her height and wearing a large white dress with a red apron over it. She wore a large beanie on her head with some insignia that she had seen on some of the ships that the Reaver man had said to own. The girl most likely felt her staring as she turned to look at Sparrow with a confused look.

To Sparrow, the girl looked more like a child in a young adult body as the eyes were filled with absolutely innocence, one that she hasn't seen since she was eight years old. "Um... may I help you?" she asked, causing Sparrow to shake off the eerie feeling. "I'm sorry, it's just that your beanie."

The girl instinctively reached for it as she then felt the insignia on it before smiling happily, "Yep, my lord gave this to me many years ago. It's pretty special to me," she stated. Rick the bartender laughed as he stated, "Everything that man gives to you is special to ye, Lee." Lee giggled nervously as she scratched the back of her head. Her face obviously turned red as she tried to deny it.

"**Wha?! No way!**"

The calm atmosphere disappeared as Sparrow looked over her own shoulder to see Anthony staring at Lee with a shocked look. He was pointing at her accusingly as Lee just cocked her head with a curious look. "Um... yes sir?" she asked.

"L.... Li.... Lisa?!" he shouted with astonishment.

_**Bowerstone**_

"That can't be possible," Elias repeated for the hundred and eleventh time in the last hour as Leo had a large blush on his face. Tuck and Shared didn't seem that surprised as all of them were sitting on a table, not noticing the constant glances of anger or confusion they got from the other occupants.

"How can you be a girl? You don't even look like one!" he shouted as he pointed accusingly at her. Leo sighed as she waved it off and said, "You could have just asked."

"I asked you!" Elias stated.

"No, you asked if I was gay and I said no," she stated as she sat casually, not bothering with man still trying to figure out how he didn't see this coming. Shared found it amusing as Tuck said to him, "I'm a bit worried, boss." Shared leaned closer to the man as he whispered, "You said your ancestor hid the special weapon in that cave and that no one would be able to get in there unless they destroyed all the stone gargoyles around the land or the secret passage that you knew of."

"And the fact that all of them are still intact and still taunting anyone that happen to walk by them," Shared said with a dark tone in his voice. "could only mean that someone that we know personally would be able to take that weapon."

"But who? We only told Anthony, his friends who joined, and Wolf," Tuck said, straining on the last name. Shared sensed it as he whispered, "We mustn't start accusing people, Tuck, but we must also be careful. We'll discuss this later." He ended the conversation but jumping in the childish argument as he said, "Settle down, guys. Why don't we settle this with a good pint all around?"

**To be Continued**

**Disoriented soul: I love torturing the guys. I just did it again in this chapter. XD Thanks for the review, Alma.**

_**Please review!**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Lisa: OMFGROFLLMAO! AHAHAHAH! Freakin' Elias! I never knew people would want to pair you up to Leo. It's such a funny story how he actually learned that Leo from Tekken was a chick. Though she was a dude for awhile XD Maybe I should draw it... Let me know if I should at the end of the chapter!**

**Izzy: Actually, it was the plan that Leo would only appear in this chapter, but after seeing the reviews about how happy that Leo might be paired with Elias... **_**I**_** chose to let her stay.**

**Lisa: -unenthusiastic- Yeah, freaking yeah...**

**Note: I've started posting character looks on Deviantart. If anyone would like to see how they look like, my account is KotoriRod. **

**Izzy: Dude! There're so many anonymous reviewers! … Not that I'm complaining…**

**Chapter 11  
Hero of Skill, Surprise in Bed, & Banshee in Bloodstone**

Sparrow found it really amusing how Anthony was practically acting almost the same way when he had first met her, Allen, and Rook. She guessed that it was probably another person that just happened to look like his friend from the future. After nearly an hour of making sure that the woman wasn't his friend which he should have realized on the first minute, Anthony said, "Well, sorry for wasting your time. It's just really weird these past years I've been in this country." Lee just giggled as she then stopped walking and gestured like she was holding a platter.

"Welcome to Reaver Manor, ma'am and sir."

The two looked over to what she was gesturing as they both gawked in shock. The mansion was practically a huge contrast to the dirt and violent town as the place had a circle garden surrounding a dolphin fountain. The mansion was most likely three stories tall as it had a balcony on the third, giving the owner a good view of the city. Anthony let out a small whistle while Sparrow was obviously impressed by the mansion. They then noticed the girl was already at the front door, talking to the bandit guard. As they ran to catch up, she turned to look at them and said, "You can come in so, please follow me." She bowed and quickly jogged inside, being followed by the two. Anthony whistled again at the clean room they entered as he also noticed a door just across showing a burning fire. He saw the silhouette of someone posing like the man on the Captain Morgan drinks back in his time.

Lee looked at Sparrow and said, "It seems that you wish to have an audience with Master Reaver, no?" Sparrow slowly nodded her head as Lee pointed into the room with the fireplace. "He's in there; just make sure not to disturb him." Unsure what that meant, Sparrow nodded her head as she and Anthony headed toward the room but the blonde man was stopped by the young girl. Turning to look at her, she said, "Master Reaver wishes to only see one person, even when he is having his portrait made."

"Sounds like a really stuck-up guy," Anthony joked as Lee giggled at the comment. "Yes, Master Reaver does tend to be a self centered man, but he can be caring." Although it sounded nice, Anthony could tell the girl was telling a bit of a lie at the end of that statement. Laughing at the thought, he felt himself starting to yawn which caught Lee's attention. "Looks like you may want to tuck in for the night, sir."

The Keeper of Light nearly choked on himself after hearing her calling him "sir" which he didn't expect to hear from her in his lifetime, due to the fact that the girl was technically older than him back in his time. "Yeah, well, fighting Banshees and running around Wraithmarsh with a wound that hasn't healed due to said fighting really can make even the strongest of men tired," he stated, trying to sound cool but failed when the wound in his side throbbed in pain again.

"You may use the rooms here in the mansion, but you could also use the ones in the Inn back at the docks since there is more privacy there," Lee said urgently and in a worried tone. Anthony knew the girl was worried anyways since she looked still like a child, much like his friend. However, now that he had seen her closer, she had a different kind of facial appearance that contrast against his friends, but it still seemed similar to the one he knows. He brushed it out of his mind as he said, "It be best if I stay here, lest I just collapse somewhere down the hill and get looted by some robber."

As he headed up the stairs, he didn't see the girl shake her head in dismay as she headed toward the study room, hearing her master call to her. Once entering, the woman that had accompanied Anthony stalked past her and out the door, obviously angered by her master's comment about her being just some nobody and she had to prove herself to him. Once she entered, she didn't flinch when he shot the sculptor. It was probably for a reason like she didn't sculpt a certain part of his body perfectly. He then stared at Lee as he said, "Have Mike take this trash out of here before it stains the rugs."

Lee bowed as she headed towards the front door and towards the bandit guard. "Michael, Master Reaver wishes for you to throw away some garbage." The man sighed in dismay as he said, "Why does he insist of getting these people to take his image if he can't just take a small criticism of his persona?"

"I'm not even sure you know some of those words, Michael," Lee stated with slight humor, getting a mock glare from him. The bandit playfully hit her head with his gloved fist as he said, "Well, I'll get to it then, kid." As he started to walk towards the study room, he noticed that Reaver had disappeared.

_**Bowerstone Market**_

Elias was now headed toward the gates towards Bower Lake, wanting to get out of the town and be in the dark cave headquarters. However, he could feel a presence following him as he glanced back to see Leo in his man disguise. After glancing back a few times, Elias stood over her and shouted, "Go home, kid! I don't need some child following me!"

He felt weird saying those words, being that his mind was still set on teenager mode like when he first got here. However, it didn't mean that he matured a little and didn't like to be followed around. Leo glared up at him and said, "Well, I think you might know something that I want to know!" Elias laughed at the statement as he replied, "Like you need to know anything from me. All you need to know is that dressing up as a man will be very problematic for you."

"Geez, Eli," said a voice behind him. He turned to see Marcos standing there along with Jonnathan and Allen. "_You_ are using big words? The girls back home will be very proud of you." Being already angered, he snapped at them to be quiet, but only got a jeering reply of oh's from his friends. Allen sighed as he then stated, "Theresa wants us to head to Bloodstone."

Everyone then went serious as Elias asked, "Why? Did something bad happen to Anthony and Sparrow?"

Allen shook his head and replied, "She wants us to be ready for anything since Sparrow did bust of the Spire, and apparently the Spire Guard activity has boosted up since then. Garth can't even return to his home without encountering those buggers." Just before Elias could say that they should head out, Leo stepped and said, "I'm coming with you!" Looking down at her, he said, "No way, kid! You are staying here."

"Did you just call her a 'kid'?" Jonnathan asked in a humorous tone. Elias glared at him as Marcos added. "Man, we are getting old if you start saying that." This caused Jonnathan and Marcos to laugh loudly before abruptly moaning in sadness. Elias looked and saw the girl was determined to follow, no matter what he decided so he sighed and stated, "Alright, guys… and _girl_…" Leo smiled happily as Elias stood up, acting as leader.

"We're heading towards Bloodstone!" The girl cheered happily as she suddenly hugged him, causing him to feel really uncomfortable from the contact. He then heard Jonnathan and Marcos sing out:

_Elias got a girlfriend, who has a cross dressing trend!_

"**Shut up!**" Elias snapped at his friends before trying to pry the girl off of him.

_**Bloodstone  
Reaver Manor**_

He didn't know when the bed became more comfortable as he snuggled into the large pillow his head was on. Fatigue had overcame him quicker than he realized when he plopped himself on the bed in the closest bedroom he could find. It was only hours since he slept when he felt something snuggle into his neck. He sighed in annoyance, figuring it was Doogal since the dog had the tendency to snuggle with him ever since Sparrow had left to go to the Spire as he ignored the contact while saying, "Doogal, get off, okay? I'm too tired to have a dog on the bed that will just kick me off it."

"I'm not sure how this Doogal treats you, my good man," said a male voice, causing Anthony to freeze in fear. A strong hand pulled him in close to a warm body while fondling him.

**Izzy: -looks wide eyed- oh… my… fucking… god… -looks at notes then looks shocked at Lisa- That's just sad, Lisa…**

**Lisa: Well, we all discussed back when this first started so we all agreed already…**

**Izzy: … You guys sure are mean to each other.**

**Lisa: Just stop talking and let's continue the story…**

Anthony looked over his shoulder as he saw a rather handsome-looking man cuddled with him in the bed. To add to the weirdness that was already there, the man was shirtless and eyeing him like he was going to eat him. Just as he was going to ask the stupid question of what he was doing, he noticed that the man's face was a bit too close. The warm breath of wine and smoke coming from the other man's lips as Anthony soon felt sick.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Lee was busy making tea for the company that decided to stay for the night. Once she started to pour the water, she didn't jump at the sound of a man screaming in fear and the sound of a loud thud upstairs. Sighing in distress, she moved from where she stood which right in front of the swinging door, carrying the tray of tea with her. Just as she placed it and herself at a safe distance, the door swung open, revealing a really red and pissed Anthony. Lee just stared at him with a blank stare as he pointed accusingly at her, "How dare you! You set me up, didn't you?"

Lee just shook her head before focusing most of her attention on the warm tea as she handed it to Anthony. "I did say that you should have gone to the Inn."

"You didn't say that! All you said that I had a choice between here and the Inn! If I knew that there was a gay pervert here, I would have picked the Inn!" Anthony stated, but suddenly went calm when he felt the cup gently placed in his hands.

"I said that you could also go to there for privacy, sir," she reminded him, making him think back to her words just hours ago.

_You may use the rooms here in the mansion, but you could also use the ones in the Inn back at the docks since there is more privacy there._

He suddenly felt stupid for not understanding those words with hidden meaning as he bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I shouldn't have snapped like that." Lee giggled as she waved it off, saying, "Don't worry. Master Reaver does tend to have a large need of physical contact, no matter the gender."

Anthony then stared at her with wide eyes of shock. Lee saw the look, wondering if he was worried about the fact that her master was bisexual. "Wait… did you say that man that was in the room that I was sleeping in… the one who nearly raped me in my sleep… that was Reaver?" he asked. Lee just nodded her in response like it wasn't a big deal when Anthony just placed the tea down on the table and headed out of the kitchen. It was only minutes later that she heard a loud curse word erupt from outside of the manor, followed by an amused Reaver who was only wearing a white shirt and his trousers.

"It seems a bit harsh of you to come on to someone like that, Master," Lee stated as she handed him the tea. He just waved it off as he sniffed the drink and took a sip before placing it down to the other cup before saying, "Fetch me my best wine, girl, and I do believe I would like Mary to be my companion for this fine morning. Call her for me." Lee simply bowed to him as she went out of the kitchen, heading towards one of the prostitute hang outs to enlist the woman's company for her master.

Anthony finally reached the Inn and saw that the sun had barely risen from the sky to mark a new day. Looking at the near sunrise, he felt his anger disappear as he decided to count again the days that went by. After remember the year that went before Sparrow left, the years that Sparrow spent in the Spire, and the days that went by after that, Anthony soon realized that his stay had lengthened to eleven years and forty-one days.

Well, forty-two if he counts the upcoming sunrise that was starting to peak over the horizon. He then felt surprised with himself that he didn't collapse on the way down here as he quickly lifted up his vest and shirt, seeing that wound was now nothing but a small scar that was barely visible. He touched it and was filled with great relief that the wound had healed. However, a thought went through his mind as he remembered that such fast movements constantly made him in pain.

As he was about to ponder on how he was able to heal so fast without any help from potions, he heard someone calling his name. Looking up, he saw Sparrow jogging towards him as she said "Looks like you're up, bright and early." Anthony scratched the back of his head as he then asked, "You talked to the Reaver guy?"

He slightly regretted asking that question when she saw the happy smile on her face change to a frown as she started to rant. "God! Don't get me started on that mangy bastard! How dare he be considered a Hero! He tried to come on to me like I was some common slut and then he proceeded to call me a 'nobody'!" She then stood proudly as Doogal finally caught up with her and stood heroically with his master, however his very furry body really killed the image. "I am the Hero of Bowerstone. How dare he not know who I am!"

Anthony just laughed nervously as he then said, "I guess that means we have to do something big in order for him to notice you... just as a Hero, not a choice!" He had quickly added the last part as he almost made it sound like she wanted the man's attention. Wanting to change the subject slightly, he then stated out of the blue, "I met the guy, you know."

Sparrow didn't seem that surprised as she asked, "Oh... and how did he react to you?" All that she got was silence as she then looked at Anthony to see a sick expression on his face. Sparrow then looked worried as she calmly asked, "Anthony, what happened?" Looking at her as he tried to stay calm, he suddenly burst into tears as he hugged the girl close, bawling out loud, "He tried to **rape** me, Sparrow! He nearly touched... **inappropriately**!"

As he continued to cry, Sparrow noticed that the small spectacle was gaining attention from onlookers who were whispering. She had expected to hear words like "What is going on there?" and "Poor man..."

Instead, she heard words like "What's wrong with the man? He should feel happy." and "He should have let Reaver do him." Despising the statement becoming more explicit, she dragged the man to the Inn, gaining a bit more privacy as they headed to the room that she had rented for the night. She gently placed him on the bed as she said, "I'll get us some breakfast, Anthony. You should get some rest." The blonde man sniffed a bit as he wiped the tears from his eyes while nodding in agreement.

However, when Sparrow reached the bottom of the stairs, nearly everyone jumped when they heard the man exclaim aloud:

"**I'm going to kill Elias when I see him! That fucker sold me out!**"

_**Merchant Ship to Bloodstone**_

Elias sneezed slightly, causing Leo and Marcos to jump slightly. Jam cooed a bit as he scrambled through his master's coat until he popped back out with a handkerchief. He scrambled a bit as he jumped to Elias' shoulder and gave him the handkerchief, getting a thank you from the man. "I don't even know where that came from," Elias honestly stated. "I'm sure I'm not allergic to the ocean."

"Aw, you poor thing," Leo cooed, getting everyone to stare at her weirdly. It was odd to see the tom boy to suddenly act womanly, but they didn't know her that well since Elias only knew her for a day. It becoming oddly more uncomfortable for him as the girl seems to cuddle into him while holding his arm close to her. Luckily for him, Jonnathan popped between them as he said, "Hey! Let's tell some stories since the captain said we'll be reaching Bloodstone like around late afternoon."

Being one who liked to hear stories, Marcos jumped up and down childishly while Jam cooed in agreement. Elias sighed happily as there was at least something else to do instead of trying to keep the girl at a distance. Allen was sleeping on the main mast, letting the ocean breeze blow against his body and lulling him into a deep sleep.

"Okay then," Jonnathan said as he rubbed his hands together before abruptly pointing at Marcos. "How about you tell us a story, Marcos?"

"How about you tell me how you guys came here?" Leo said, catching the three men's attention. They eyed at her until she finally confessed, "Tuck and Shared were talking about how guys aren't from our time." Jonnathan muttered lowly, sounding like it was saying how the Bandit leader should learn to be the sarcastic bastard he was before and Marcos just sighed before starting.

"I guess I could start on how fucked up our time is compared this world. I can't really say much really, but I guess the economy is just down in the shits and education has been starting to get negative help from anyone since they kept getting budget cuts."

Leo whistled a bit as she said, "Man, sounds like a future I don't want to be in."

Marcos laughed at the comment as he continued. "It's not all that bad. Even through tough times, we still got our friends at the school we go to..."

_**Chamber of Fate**_

"This is stupid!" Rook stated loudly as Theresa had decided to have him and Garth practice on their combo attack just like Allen and Hannah did before them. "We won't need to do some stupid combo attack. I mean, how the hell do you combine time and... lightening, I guess?" Garth then stated, "I control more than that, my apprentice, so it is mandatory that you learn how to combine time with other elements as well."

"Shut up, old man!" Rook snapped back, obviously irritated. "You're just doing this so you could treat me like a third-rate mage again!" Garth glared at him as he replied, "I don't treat like a third-rate mage because you already are one, child!"

"I'm freaking almost thirty, old man!" Rook stated proudly.

"And is that supposed to imply what? That you think that growing older makes you wiser," Garth taunted, both ignoring the already annoyed Theresa. "All that it shows is that you have become more childish since I last saw you!"

"Enough!"

Rook and Garth quickly looked at the old woman as she still stood how she always does, but had some dark aura coming off herself. "We must get this done before I send you two and Hannah to catch up with the others." Finally getting their attention, Theresa then explained, "Now, you both know that in order for you to create this combination attack, you must be able to be in sync and to perform your spells at the exact same time."

"Easier said than done, lady," Rook muttered, but was silenced when Garth elbowed him in the side. "Be silent, Cyclops," Garth stated, not noticing the slight pang of hurt that appeared on his apprentice face as Rook unconsciously touched his sealed right eye. He quickly placed his hand down as Theresa instructed him to start his Time Control spell. He started to focus as his hands made a rolling motion with each other, forming a light orb in his hands. Theresa nodded to Garth as he charged up an Inferno spell.

Once they both reached the highest levels that they conjure their spells, they threw each other's spells at each other, causing a rather drastic reaction to occur around them. The Chamber started to quake violently and also seemed to become warmer than it should be. Rook then noticed a rather eerie glow from the dark deep abyss that surrounded the large pillar they were all standing on as he walked to the edge to see what it was.

His eyes widened in shock as there down below at a rather safe distance was a large moat of lava surrounding the pillar. He was surprised that he never noticed that before until now, but his thought was stopped when he heard Theresa speak. "You two have the ability to create chaos and order, if you two work together accordingly." Seeing the slight confusion on Rook's face, she then rephrased herself, "If you two don't get start to get along, your spells can be fatal to the other Heroes and their Keepers." The two looked at each other as they noticed Shared and Hannah walking into the Chamber.

"Whoa!" Shared said as he stopped for a second before walking toward them while fanning himself with his hand. "What did you guys do in here? Turn this place into Albion's oven?" Rook and Garth just stared at him, giving him bad vibes as he then changed his conversation towards Theresa.

"I got to hand to you, lady," he said happily as he held a Guild seal in his hand. "These things sure are quite handy. I can't believe you were able to find these just lying around." His expression suddenly went serious as he spoke, "My buddy up in Wraithmarsh said that activity has started to escalate." He sighed tiredly as he added, "And to top it off, he found some twins accidentally summoning a Banshee somewhere off the coast of Bloodstone."

Everyone went silent as then Rook said with a slight humorous voice, "Well, let's hope Banshees can't teleport long distances, or Allen and the others won't be getting a welcome wagon that they want."

_**Ship... Yeah, we can't think of what to call it instead of "Ship"**_

"You really think that this place is better than your time?" Leo asked with surprise as did Elias. Marcos and Jonnathan looked down with slight shame as Marcos said, "It's just... we have more freedom here than we do back in our time. There, we have to deal with the stupid status of school etiquette, then there's the problem of getting a decent job since they are disappearing due to the economy failing."

"And how can we not forget about our stupid war that has so many reasons that no one even wants to hear about the war on the news?" Jonnathan added. "I'm telling you, you wouldn't want to live at the time we are now."

"But it sounds really great, though," Leo said as she stood on the floor, standing an inch taller than Marcos. "You have so much at that time that makes life easier."

"And makes people lazier," Marcos added dreadfully. He then turned to look at the ocean, seeing the sun starting to hit the top of the sky. "I'm telling you, our world sucks... so I wouldn't mind staying here for a couple of more years." Jonnathan made an agreement nod before noticing that the boat was suddenly covered by a deep fog. "Whoa... did anyone see this come?" he asked as they all turned to look at Allen who was obviously fast asleep on the beam, his body limp and comfortable adjusted to it so he wouldn't fall to the wooden ground. "I'm wondering how the hell were you able to survive with that guy as your companion during the ten years you left Albion."

Elias just shrugged before suddenly feeling fear and dread come over his body. He wasn't the only one as everyone started to become wary of what was about to happen. The whole ship was engulfed, making just looking over to see the water very hard. Everyone pulled out their weapons while Leo put on red leather gloves with metal knuckles on them. The black-haired gunman raised an eyebrow at this as he said, "I don't think you can kill really well with just those gloves, kid." Leo just rolled her eyes while Marcos just snapped at Elias, "Would you stop saying that word?! My god, we are older than you and we don't use that word on younger people!"

Oddly enough, Leo felt a pang of hurt from that word since it just made her feel more weaker than she usually did. Quickly shoving it out of her, she then heard a soft singing. Everyone started to huddle back to back, wanting to make sure no one gets caught by surprise. Thankfully, the wait wasn't long as they all sensed an attack above them. Quickly jumping out of the way, they all turned to where they once stood to see Shadow Children glaring at them. There eight of them as they split into groups of two as they each advanced on one of the warriors.

Marcos charged up his Force Push spell while Jonnathan held his hood down before jumping out of the way from his two targets. Elias watched this while avoiding his two targets when he noticed the fog began to get even thicker. He cursed as he whipped out his pistols and started shooting at the Shadow children in front of him.

**Lisa: Aw man... I'm staying up too late to do this! Gragh! And I'm starving! Dammit!**

"Damn this... I bet we aren't even near Bloodstone," Elias stated as the Shadow Children seem to be unaffected by the attacks.

_**Bloodstone Docks**_

"Did you even see this come in, Sparrow?" Anthony asked as just only minutes ago, the sun was brightly shining and now, a dark, eerie, and familiar fog surrounded the docks, causing the citizens of Bloodstone to panic. They heard many screams that mostly shouted something about a Banshee which sent chills done the blonde's spine. Sparrow then pulled out her pistol, ready for anything as Doogal growled while facing the docks. Anthony didn't really do anything until he noticed a ship was coming into dock, and it wasn't slowing down.

He quickly pulled Sparrow towards the steps on the hill as the boat crashed into the docks, sending many debris of wood towards all the stalls and the Inn. It was only then Anthony noticed that the fog got even thicker, and the sounds of a battle were happening in it. Pulling out his katana, he rushed into the fog, ignoring Sparrow's shouts of warning and worry. Once he entered into the fog, the main area where he saw the singing bard was the only place that was visible, practically everything else was engulfed in the white soup. Becoming cautious, he stood still as he let the feeling of calm overcoming him. Breathing slowly like his master had taught him, he then heard silence around him.

It was only moments later he heard a footstep behind him as he swung his sword to clash against another's. He was about to fight when he recognized the General Grievous-lookalike mask. "Marcos?" he asked in shock. The short man seemed to stand straight as well as he removed his mask just to place on his head, revealing the familiar Mexican face of his friend. "Anthony? Wow, didn't expect to see you so soon," the man said with a hint of relief.

"Like wise," Anthony agreed as they both heard a loud shriek, causing the two to put up their weapons once again and stood on their guard. Looking around was useless as the soup of fog wasn't let up. It was after several minutes of anticipation and silence that the fog cleared just a bit, showing Jonnathan being thrown towards them out of the fog. Being caught off guard, they barely drop their weapons and catch him, falling to the ground due to the large weight that was on them. They realized that he was unconscious due to two factors: his skin was pale and his eyes were empty. There was a deep distinction that he was alive by the small and almost silent breathing as the two tried to push him off, but it was hard as they soon froze in fear when they saw a white cloaked Banshee floating above them.

"Aw shit..." they both muttered together as the creature shrieked at him. They both waited for their death when a sudden red light hit the Banshee, making it shriek in pain. It then rose up towards the sky before fading in a silver light, showing that it had been defeated. The weight on them was easily pulled off by a young looking blonde male along with Elias. Anthony looked past them to see Sparrow shaking off the smoke from her gloved hands as a crowd suddenly surrounded her, each giving her thanks and congratulations on saving their town and defeating a white Banshee.

After letting out a sigh of relief, Anthony was about to extend his thanks when he then remembered something once looking at the black haired gunman. Elias looked questionably as his friend's expression went from solemn straight to anger in a matter of seconds. Out of instinct, he jumped back as Anthony slashed down his sword at the spot he was just standing at. The blonde looked up to see his friend running towards the other side of the docks that led opposite direction to Wraithmarsh. He made chase, shouting out loud for anyone who bothered to listen:

_**You fucking piece of shit, Elias! You knew about Reaver's sexuality! You son of a bitch, once I get you, you're gonna hope that men take you!**_

Marcos and Jonnathan just stared at the chasing duo while Leo seemed rather worried for her crush, causing the two men to scoot away from her and not wanting to feel the love aura that seemed to spill of the girl.

At the manor, Reaver looked rather intrigued by the spectacle as he felt a presence enter into the room he was in. Not needing to turn around, he asked, "Did you find anything, girl?" Lee bowed as she held up a clipboard of notes and papers as she gave her report.

"The woman is named Sparrow. Apparently, she is rather popular out of these shores and mostly in the area of Bowerstone and Oakfield. She has done much for the people and seems to have also escaped from the Spire."

As she lowered the clipboard, Reaver raised an eyebrow while looking at the maid. "That bloody damn pillar that is in the middle of the ocean." Lee nodded her head as she then added, "It seems word has gone around that she has issues with Lucien, master, and that is why she come here." The man seemed to ponder a bit before twitching slightly. He looked down at the mirror that was placed purposely across from the bed, seeing a shocking image of dark beings standing behind him. He quickly turned to see that no one was actually there, but it was obviously a warning from them.

He let out a groan of annoyance as he then said, "Fetch me the seal, girl." Lee headed out for a couple of minutes before entering the room with a large circular trinket. Reaver turned to see her holding it, his expression changing slightly at the sight as he then ordered, "Place it in the study room. I think I have come with a rather perfect for this year, girl." Lee just bowed as she was about to leave the room.

"Oh, by the way..."

Lee turned to see that Reaver was now standing behind her as he asked, "Is there a bounty on the girl?" Lee calmly nodded her head as she replied, "Lucien has placed a rather large money on the woman's head and also for the male companion of hers." Reaver didn't hesitate as he then ordered, "After this errand, send a letter to Lucien that we had found his little escapee and we will gladly hand her over to him once he comes here." Reaver noticed for a second she was about to question him, but she quickly silenced herself as she nodded and walked away.

Once the doors to his bedroom were closed, Lee looked down at the seal, seeing her reflection in the dark metal and the golden spiked ring surrounding it. Her heart filled with dread as she held it to herself before looking at the door. She placed her hand on it before quickly heading downstairs to do her errands.

_**To Be Continued**_

**Yeah! The chapter is done! Review reply time!**

**Disoriented soul: Gak! Alma! I miss you so much! Anyways, thanks for the review and yes I like torturing the guy!**

**Elias: XD Well anyways thanks for the review.**

**fatalshot98: LOL Yeah, rape ninjas!**

**FbL3_fngRl: Uh... well... that's just funny and yeah, Tekken 6 is an awesome game!**

**$cR33nCh3kR717: Um... okay that's a bit creepy, girl. I can think of some ways that you learn that information, but he is really getting kind of worried about that so let's tone down this information, kays?**

**cO_oKy"n"cR3m3: I might post up pictures when I have the time. XD I was thinking no one would know who Leo was XD And to you later comment, LOL I didn't think anyone would find out our plan. That was part of the reason we did this story XD**

**william: Well it looks like FbL3_fngRl already answered that.**

**: Well, we had an idea for that kind of side story but it wasn't involving Elias and it wasn't gonna be some age potion... -smirks evilly at Anthony-**

**Gaara_of_da_funk2009: He does have the potential XD**

**: Aw, it looks like Alvaro's character has a fan! XD**

**SlayerFoo909: Seems like you know Elias. Anyways, thanks for the review!**

_**Please review and hopefully we'll update soon!**_


	12. Chapter 12

**Note: This was so ridiculous to finish. I had only like a few paragraphs to do in the last four months and I didn't do much since I kept being pulled do my other fiction and my homework. It was just a few paragraphs! This was partly due to the fact that I lost the USB that had the almost finished end of this chapter and I had to do another two months of retyping… Anyways, enjoy!**

**Chapter 12****  
****Meeting the Court & Demon inside You**

The group was all sitting in a table in the Inn, all eating a nice dinner that Sparrow had reluctantly paid for. Each had a rather decent and exciting meal... well everyone except Elias. He looked a bit beaten up thanks to Anthony's lightening spell on him and he was sad to see that he had what looked like mush in a bowl for dinner. "Can't I get at least... a little pity?" he asked, but flinched in fear when he saw both Sparrow and Anthony glaring down at him. He then played with his mush before reluctantly taking a spoonful and eating it. Obviously ignoring what just had happened, Marcos then asked, "Now that the evil monster business is over with, what's next?"

Anthony leaned back on his chair as he answered, "Hopefully, that little act of bravery that just happened gave Sparrow enough renown in order for... Reaver to notice her." It was obvious the man loathe Reaver by his tone as he also cringed at the word leaving his mouth. Elias was about to chuckle a bit, but saw the glares again before returning back to his slop. He then realized something as he then asked, "Hey, what happened to Allen?" Sparrow just thumbed behind her, causing everyone to look at a still-sleeping Allen in one of the booths at the back. Apparently, the man hadn't even awoken after the ship crashed into the harbor. His face mask was off, showing that his mouth was slightly drooling but he was indeed still asleep.

"So besides that," Sparrow started to speak. "Anthony and I are going to head back to the Manor and see if this guy will join us." Elias looked up from his gruel as he spoke, "Well, just be prepared for anything. That man tends to be a bit tricky." Marcos then pointed his fork at him, ignoring his food, before saying, "Oh yeah, you and ninja dude met the guy during your travels."

"Which obviously tells how you know about his sexuality," Anthony glared at his friend, getting a nervous laugh from him. Elias just shook off the hidden meaning from those words when Anthony smirked a bit. "He mostly sees me as a rival. I'm lucky that he didn't pick me off when we first showed off our skills," he stated.

They heard a loud laugh from the both before Allen went back to sleeping soundly, making everyone wonder what was so funny. They looked at Elias for an explanation, but he waved it off before he happily ate a spoonful of slop, only to nearly hurl for making that mistake. Leo looked worried before noticing both Anthony and Sparrow standing up, both announcing that they'll be seeing Reaver now. Although he said he was going, Sparrow had to drag her Keeper along since it was obvious that the man didn't want to meet the gunman who nearly raped him in his sleep. Everyone seemed to understand his dismay as they all lightly laughed at it, causing the blonde to glare at them as he was dragged out of the Inn.

Once they were out of sight, Leo pulled out a fresh plate of cooked meat and vegetables, switching them with the slop that Elias was eating. Elias looked down at it before nearly crying at the girl. He mouthed out a thank you to her as he happily at the food, not seeing the dreamy stare from the girl who just saved his stomach. Marcos and Jonathan just eyed at the two before hearing a loud yawn behind them. Looking back, they saw Allen placing his face mask on as he wiped the tired tears from his eyes. "Anything I missed?" he asked, getting a groan from the two males.

Back at the hill, Sparrow and Anthony were almost entering the gates when Anthony attempted to back step. The Hero saw this as she dragged him once again towards the manor by his collar, ignoring the loud complaints and pleas from her Keeper. They soon reached the steps, noticing the door man was a different one from last time. Anthony stood up straight to see this and asked, "Yo, where's the previous guy?" The man just ignored that question as he said, "Reavah's waitin' for ye."

The two glared at the man before heading inside of the manor. Just as they were reaching the door to the study room, Anthony gave pause a bit as Sparrow noticed he was shaking in fear. She sighed as she then suggested, "How about I speak to him alone then?" Although he then stopped shaking and acted like he was just being "meh", she could tell that the man was aching to just leave the manor and jump for joy. However, it seems he would just stay in the lobby of the manor, not wanting to leave her if the man tried anything.

Anthony watched her enter the study room, causing another familiar female to leave it as the door closed behind her. Lee saw him standing there as she asked, "Do you need anything, sir?" Anthony just shook his head as he then thought for a bit. He then asked, "You think you got any of that tea from this morning? It smelled really nice." Lee nodded her head as she led him to the kitchen. As she prepared the tea, Anthony decided to pick up some information.

"So, I guess you're that man's maid girl," he bluntly said, mentally slapping his head for saying it so casually. The girl just nodded her as she said, "His family took me in when no else could when I was little and you can say that I stuck with him ever since. He's really kind." Anthony let out a laugh as he should disbelief. "I heard that this guy shot someone this afternoon after Sparrow left. No way has that qualified him as kind."

"I guess you can say that I met him before he turned into... that kind of person," she said as she placed the tea in front of him. Anthony's eyes suddenly wandered to the cap on her head. It was similar to his own when he was ten years younger, only that it seemed rather neat looking and not gangster type. He also recognized the golden insignia on the front was similar to the metal holding that Reaver had on his cloak. What caught his attention even more that something twitched underneath it. A thought ran through his head as he then asked, "Do you wear that hat everywhere? I mean, it must be annoying to wear."

He was speaking through experience as the beanie he wore became much of a hassle through the years, which was why he gave up wearing it just shortly after Sparrow left for the Spire. The girl seemed to be a bit offensive on the subject of her headwear as she reached her beanie and said, "It's just a habit of mine since I first got this from... anyways, I like wearing this." It was then he noticed something twitch underneath. Not knowing what came over him; he grabbed the beanie off her head and got the shock of his life.

There on the girl's head was a pair of ears, cat ears to be exact. They were similar to Wolf's, but here's seems rather big like she was just a little kitten with them. He wasn't really that shocked since he had an inkling what was under the hat, but he didn't expect to see another person that was like Wolf. However, he remembers hearing the Banshee say something to his mentor before he was knocked unconscious.

_Love wasn't to keep her with you..._

He slightly wondered what that meant so he handed the beanie back to Lee, spouting out an apology. She looked down embarrassed as she asked, "Are you going to bully me too?" Surprised at this, he waved his hands in defense, "No way! I wouldn't make fun of you! I've already met some people who are like you, well there's only one, but the point is that it'll be stupid of me to make fun of you just because you got ears on your head." She then looked up happily and said, "It's good that you're nice, sir."

He was about to ask if she knew Wolf before hearing the door swing open, revealing Reaver who had a blank expression on his face. Sensing that the man might jump him, Anthony quickly bid his farewell and sped out of the room, side stepping pass Reaver who eagerly let him out of the room, much to the blonde's surprise. He just brushed it off as he hurried out, not wanting to see if Reaver was going to grab for him. Once he stepped out of the manor, he jumped over the railing to land right next to the waiting Sparrow as he announced, "Onward to..."

"The Shadow Court," Sparrow finished for him, walking towards the gates while leaving a still victorious posed Anthony. She turned to see that he was still that way until he looked at her questionably. "I thought you recruited the guy." Sparrow shook her head as she pulled out a dark seal that was similar to her own, only it was rather... eerie looking. "That Reaver guy said to return this to the Shadow Court."

Anthony nearly froze as he heard Theresa's voice echo through his head, "_The Shadow Court... it was they who destroyed Oakvale._" Anthony seemed to be shocked at this but seemed a bit confused when Sparrow was talking while the old woman was trying to convey her message... as if he was the only one hearing these words. However, the old lady's voice didn't seem to continue as Sparrow's became louder than the ones in his head.

"...and apparently, they are located at the door that we passed by before reaching the ruins of Oakvale."

"Uh... I wouldn't know that because half of the trip, Wolf was 'raping' me, causing you to question my sexuality," Anthony quickly said as he made quotation marks with his hands, acting like he had been listening to her. Sparrow laughed at the memory as she reassured him, "I never said you liked guys, I just found it weird that Wolf would cover something up in that way." Anthony sighed as he said, "Let's get going. I don't want to have to deal with the others back at the Inn, especially Elias."

As they started their journey, Anthony asked, "Why you angry at him anyways? You bought him slop." He nearly flinched at the sight of sudden anger in her eyes as she shouted, "**That damn man still owes me money for buying out Westcliff! So of course I would be severely angry with him!**" Anthony seemed slightly shock by that but thought carefully that Elias would do something like that since he did play the game already. He looked back up to the manor which only the gates were visible as he wondered if Lee knew about what her Master does....

Back at the Inn, Jonathan had declared he was going to finally get some rest as he headed upstairs, leaving the five down there to their empty plates and bored minds and tired bodies. However, none of them wanted to sleep. Marcos groaned as he said, "Man, the only highlight of my life and it just disappears in a second." Elias nodded in agreement as he let out a satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his chair, still not noticing the darling gaze from Leo. Suddenly, they all heard a loud yawn that was closer than it was before, causing everyone to look up at Allen who was fully awake. He had his mask off as it just lay against his chest lazily before saying, "We might as well head out for awhile."

"But it's night time," Leo quickly stated, getting a blank stare from the ninja. "What are you, ten? We can travel out there if we wanted to," Allen confidently stated as he walked outside while saying, "Get your shit together because we are heading out in fifteen minutes!" Once he was out of sight, Elias just sat back correctly as he said, "I really don't get that man. He's first a total prick and then he can suddenly become a very adventurous man."

"So I guess traveling with the guy for ten years didn't really tell you everything about him," Marcos questionably stated as Elias nodded. They all then stood up as they looked towards the direction the ninja went, having Leo say, "I guess we'll be having our own little adventure." She suddenly snuggled near Elias, causing the man to become very uncomfortable as Marcos then spoke to himself, "Why is she acting like this? He's not even that pretty."

_**Wraithmarsh**_

"I hate these damn hollow men!" Anthony shouted as he threw another ball of lightening a trio of dead men who all exploded just seconds later. Sparrow shared the same feeling as she shot a couple more in the head before taking out her long sword to cut down another who had gotten to close. Doogal attack one that was sent down by his master, ripping off the head as the Hollow Man's body disappeared soon afterwards. Anthony then drove his katana downward on the last one, causing it to disappear back to where it came from.

Letting out a satisfied sigh, he turned to Sparrow who gave her final shot to a Hallow man's head as the body collapsed and the wisp flew back into the cloudy sky. They both nodded to each other before putting their weapons away. Now that the attack was done with, they continued their trek through Wraithmarsh in silence.

And this greatly bothered the Hero of Bowerstone.

She didn't notice it but the man was more lively ten years ago as he had always something cocky to say or usually commented about something from his time during their walks. She slightly missed the unique costume he wore and her dog just sitting on his head, being a rather lazy dog. The image was now replaced by a mature-looking man and a fully grown Doogal who stood beside her with shaggy fur.

Her Keeper felt her stare as he turned to look at her with a questionable look. He then asked, "Is something wrong?" Sparrow shook her head slowly as she caught up with him as she said with a smile, "You sure came a long way since we met."

It took awhile before Anthony smiled softly as he looked forward with a sense of pride as he stated in a proud tone, "Well, I kind of have to confess but... I can't wait to go back home after all this." He turned to look at the Hero, seeing a rather hurt look on her face. Seeing this he then tried to explain. "Gah! Don't... don't cry, Sparrow! I didn't mean like I want to leave! It's just..." Seeing that he was about to stammer and rant, he calmed himself and said, "It's just that I really miss just living a normal life. I miss just hanging out with my friends and arguing with my family and...being a normal teenager."

Sparrow then stated in a blunt tone, "But... you're a man now..." Anthony looked grim for a second as he muttered, "I'm hoping when I go back, I'll return to my original age." He then continued in a normal tone. "I just... maybe if we ever can convince that stupid jackass of a bodyguard that my friend has, we can ask him to bring us back anytime we want." He then looked at Sparrow to see a smile form on her face as Doogal barked in agreement. It was then Anthony felt the wind of a dark ocean blow against him, causing him to look upon the ruins of Oakvale, the town submerged in murky waters and the aura of death and despair over it.

Just miles away in another location of Wraithmarsh, Leo was clinging to Elias due to the atmosphere being rather frightening as he and Allen were rather calm. Marcos was practically walking with his tail between his legs as he held his katana rather unprofessionally as it shook in his grip. "Come on, guys," Marcos whined a bit as his mask covered his fearful expression but didn't cover his body shaking. Leo was literally clinging to Elias, which was now getting really annoying and troublesome as Elias then snapped at her, "Would you use your legs, woman?! It's not that scary out here."

A sudden shriek in the distance caused the two scared people scream in fear as Elias started to choke due to Leo hugging him around his neck rather harshly and Marcos was using Allen's scarf as a shield. Allen yanked it from him as Elias struggled a bit before prying the scared girl off him. "You know what? If you two are too scared to continue, we'll just camp out for the night," Elias stated, making the two shout in glee while Allen groaned in anger.

"We're not gonna be able to go anywhere now!" he muttered behind his mask as they started to set up camp. As they set up their tents, Allen then placed his pack down on the ground and said, "I'm going to look for some fire wood, guys. Be back in a bit." Getting a nod from the black haired gunman, the ninja disappeared in a flash, leaving only a small dust on the ground at where he once stood. Leo let out a small whistle as she commented, "So the guy really is a ninja?" Elias nodded his head as he then saw that Allen's pack was wide open, revealing a rather dark looking book.

The words were in a weird language that were loops and dots, mostly looking like "i"s and "j"s. However, his eyes were mesmerized as he read it aloud like he could read it.

أنا يستجمع الظلام التي أعطيت لي من قبل الربان

He didn't read much as the book was violently ripped from his hands by familiar skilled ones. Looking to Allen who had a very scolding look, the ninja shoved the book back in to his back. Elias laughed nervously as the ninja climbed on to the tree that overshadowed the small camp, obviously to take the first watch.

Which Elias doubted, due to the fact that the man always slept.

Feeling fatigue hit him also, he headed to his bed roll, seeing that Leo had purposely placed hers right next to his. Her sleeping form already adjusted so she would "accidently" hug him. Cringing slightly at the thought, he dragged his bed roll just a few feet away before finally placing the covers over him.

_3 hours later…_

For some strange reason, the smell of sulfur had filled the air as he was standing in the middle of the camp. However, the smell of burning didn't come from the campfire alone. The whole area around him was engulfed in flames as he saw his friends lying on the floor…

… lying in their own pool of blood…

He looked at Leo who was the only one moving, reaching towards him with her left hand. Elias was about to move to go help her when he froze suddenly. Instead, he saw himself continue walking toward the fallen girl. However, this man posing as him seemed to surround himself with this menacing aura. Elias watched himself pull out the dagger that was hidden in his boot before kneeling down right next to Leo. He watched as he raised the dagger up before stabbing downward on to Leo's struggling form.

"**NO!**"

He jolted up from his cot as he looked around, seeing that the only flame brewing was the one that was close to dying out. Allen was still asleep in the tree, unharmed as he held his dagger ready. Marcos was sleeping near the nearly dead fire, his snoring being heard over the eerie sounds and howls of Wraithmarsh. Leo, however, was wide awake and staring at him with worried eyes…

…and was straddling his legs which prevented him from sitting up correctly. He sighed in relief and irritation as he plopped back to getting some sleep; however, his luck wouldn't have it as a loud gunshot echoed through the woods as the branch that Allen was laying on broke suddenly, causing the ninja to fall straight into the ground. Luckily, he quickly turned and landed perfectly on his feet as he took out his kunai while replacing his mask on his face.

Marcos quickly jumped, slightly falling when the blanket nearly tangled around his legs. He nearly ripped it apart with his katana as he tried to stand in a fighting pose. Elias had to hold Leo close as the girl wouldn't stand up on her own. They all turned towards the odd patch of fog as a man stepped out of it. It looked like any ordinary Highway man as he stalked toward the group, but Elias unconsciously tightened his grip on Leo as he muttered, "Tobin…"

Marcos glanced between the two as he whispered to Allen, "This guy a friend?" It was obviously that it wasn't true as Allen glared at Marcos before he threw his kunai. The man named Tobin easily deflected it with a wave of his hand, obviously revealing that he had some power over magic. Allen cursed as he tried to attack again, only to be pushed back by a fire ball to his chest. He was sent flying into the bushes as smoke came off from his almost charred vest.

Seeing his comrade burnt, Tobin said, "Allen, can't you get it in your head that I kicked your ass the last time we met. I'm surprised you didn't save yourself and let Elias die instead." The ninja quickly gives the man the bird before dashing to cut Tobin's neck, but as he strikes, he is thrown back. Flipping his body, Allen was able to land on his feet and back into his fighting stance. During this small diversion, Marcos charged his force push spell at Tobin while Leo snuck around to back stab him. However, this was easily seen by the Highway man as Tobin somehow disappeared. Marcos stopped his spell, searching for the man, only to see him reappear right in front of him and kneeing him in the stomach.

"Marcos!" Leon shouts as she pulls out her pistol, shooting at Tobin's back. The man was caught off guard as his back is riddle with three bullet holes, but he didn't go down. Instead, he seemed to be surrounded by a dark aura while Marcos was surrounded by a blue one. It looked like it was being consumed by Tobin's aura as the man's injuries were disappearing and the bullets falling out of his back. Recognizing the spell, Leo quickly charged at Tobin to stop him. Only taking enough to weaken the man and to heal his own self, Tobin threw the now unconscious dual-melee wielder at Leo as the two tumbled back the direction the girl came from.

Tobin then turned to look at Elias who held up his pistols at him, glaring and demanded, "How the hell did you do all that? Last time we fought, you weren't no magician!" The Highway man just chuckled as he pulled his collar to reveal some sort of writing that was similar to the one in the book that he read. Tobin then said, "I made a deal with the gods, Elias. It has given me powers that you cannot possibly imagine with that stupid intelligence of yours."

"You're the one who's stupid," Allen shouted as he pointed his kunai that was in his left hand at Tobin. "The only way you can do that is to make a human sacrifice!" This, however, spilled ill news to both because it was quite obvious that Tobin had done just that. The man just reached into his jacket, pulling out some sort of chain necklace as he threw it towards Elias and said, "The old man wishes to give you his gratitude for being his damn pupil for nearly five years, Eli."

Looking down at what was tossed to him, he saw the familiar etchings of a Griffin surrounding a silver ring. Eyes widened in recognition as an elderly face replayed in his mind, the stern smile of the man who gave him the special katana that was strapped to his back. Despair filled him as everything seemed to fade away, leaving him alone in the darkness. The elderly man had been a father figure to him, scolding him and teaching him the ways of the sword is just as important as the ways of the gun.

Allen watched as his comrade began breathing hardly, his trained eyes seeing the man was slightly twitching rather abnormally. It reminded him back to when he and Elias were forced to kill the ones who were possessed by demons, causing him to be cautious as he took several steps towards the now awakening Marcos and Leo. Elias glared up at Tobin as he roared out in a demonic voice, "**You bastard!**"

The man pulled out from behind his cape small pellets as he threw them to the ground, creating a distraction against Tobin. Tobin seemed a bit unfazed as he only flinched slightly when Elias reappeared right in front of him. The angered man used a style similar to Muay Thai as he kept throwing punches and kneeing the man, never stopping for a break. Marcos saw this as he and Leo were ready to back him up, only to be held back by Allen. Staring back at the man, Marcos nearly shouted, "What are you, crazy? Elias needs our help!" Leo snapped out an agreement to that statement, but Allen calmly said, "Something doesn't feel right… He's going out for blood, not for knocking him out like I had taught him with this style."

Marcos turned to look at his friend, seeing that he was indeed beating Tobin, but he wasn't holding anything back as the Highway man's body began to show obvious bruising in the face and bleeding coming from his nose and mouth. Elias then proceeds to punch him in the face for what was the twentieth time, only to have his hand caught by Tobin's. The man chuckled a bit as he twisted his arm, pulling out a knife that was concealed by his coat and proceeded to stab Elias repeatedly in the back.

Leo shouted in horror as Marcos tried his best to get out of Allen's grip, but it was no use as the three watched their friend get close to being skewered by Tobin. What was odd, though, was that Elias didn't seem to be affected by the weapon. Elias only just seems to stand there, taking the pain as his eyes were covered by his hair, unable to show what emotion he was holding. Tobin also took this opportunity to kick at the joint of the man's legs, breaking both as the sound of sickening cracking echoed through Wraithmarsh.

The girl watched in horror as she saw Elias fall to the ground limply. Before anyone could even move to stop him, Tobin pulled out a flintlock pistol and shot Elias in the back of the head. Everything went slow for Leo as her eyes welled up, ignoring the shouting and threats from Marcos as Allen just held him back. "No… no…" she repeated, telling herself on what had just happened was just a dream.

_**Inside the Shadow Court**_

Anthony felt an odd pain in his head as he stumbled a bit. Sparrow quickly grabbed his arm so he wouldn't hit his head against one of the debris. They had just finished killing off the dark spirits, which might explain his headache. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something bad had just happened. Looking at Francy's look alike, he waved it off and said, "It's nothing, Sparrow. I'm fine, really." It was obvious that his companion didn't believe him as she was ready to ask him, only to be interrupted by the sound of crying.

Suddenly forgetting about the pain, his eyes narrowed at the direction the sound was coming from which was down the corridor where the door was now open. Glaring at it, he suddenly spoke out, "That better not be a fucking Witch, or I'm quitting this until we get some decent shotguns." Seeing the confused look on Sparrow's face and the oblivious look on Doogal's, he waved it off once again as he headed toward the sound since there was no other way but to go toward the sound.

_**Back Outside in Wraithmarsh**_

Leo ran toward and covered Elias's body with her own, trying to stop anymore mutilating to his frame. Tobin found this quite amusing as he said, "How cute, the girl is trying to save the already dead hero." The girl's face was filled with sorrow as tears were still flowing from her eyes. Her hands held close to the bullet hole in Elias's head, as she shouted, "You monster! I'll make you pay for this."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tobin spoke in a joking manner. "I'm a bit poor right now. Maybe if I look for some bounty that is on one of your heads and kill you for it, I'm sure to pay you back." He let out a loud laugh, aiming his gun at Leo. The girl felt fear starting to overcome her, but she didn't care. The one person she had started to like was gone now, and she felt that it would be better to just die. Lowering her head to accept her fate and ignoring the cries from Marcos, she awaited for the doors of demise to open for her.

It took her a long time to realize that the bullet never came, and the fact that she was pushed back rather harshly by the once dead body of Elias. She was on the ground, watching as Elias used his palm to thrust upward and nearly breaking Tobin's jaw. The Highway man stumbled a bit, holding his jaw as he tried to shout out a curse of disbelief. Nonetheless, his broken jaw had destroyed his speaking, leaving out only mumbles. Leo looked at Elias, feeling a small sense of relief. But it soon disappeared as she saw a rather dark aura surrounding the man. What disturbed her even more was the wounds on his back and his head were slowly being filled with the dark aura, only to fade until it was back to normal.

The wounds were gone as if they were never there.

Allen's eyes widened as his grip on Marcos were released, causing the man to rub his arm due to the hard pressure from the ninja's grip. The ninja watched in shock and fear as he muttered, "Oh no…" Marcos looked at the man with a questionably stare, only to look at Elias to see something that he never saw his friend do since they have come here.

Elias promptly threw off anything that had to do with his pistols as he then pulled off the katana that was on his back, the dark aura surrounding it as it consumed the small lightening streaks and replaced it with dark smoke and purple lightening. The hilt lacing that was originally white as snow began to bleed for some reason. The man then held it underhand style and let out a rather dark laugh that was too similar to the Joker's from Batman.

"Come on, Tobin," Elias spoke, his voice even more demonic than it was earlier. "It's time to **die**."

He charged to quickly for even Allen's trained eye as he was suddenly behind Tobin, his arm showing that he had already swiped. No one knew what happened or how it did, but Tobin suddenly fell both forward and backwards as he cut right down the middle. Leo turned to see Elias look down at her, seeing that his eyes were bloodshot red. She slowly stands up and walks toward him, asking, "Elias, are you alright?"

She didn't hear Allen warning her to run, but she had a split second to jump back as Elias swung his katana at her. It had barely missed her throat as she held it, feeling only a small cut that wasn't fatal. Looking at the man, she saw his smirk becoming wider as he began to laugh maniacally. He didn't wait for anything as he then charged at Leo, only to be stopped by a Force Push from Marcos.

"Eli, snap out of it!" he shouted, but the words weren't heard as the man easily stood up and charged once again. Leo easily evaded the swipes from the katana with Marcos's assistance as he kept lifting the girl from the ground. Allen took this chance to attack from behind, his eyes searching quickly around the man's body. Going as fast as he could, he suddenly blurred and disappeared from everyone's view. Marcos saw this and prayed that whatever Allen was doing, he hopes that he didn't just take this moment to run away. He was pulled back into the battle as he saw Leo's fists glow yellow as she punched Elias in the stomach, sending the man far away and into a tree, causing the large plant to break in half from the force.

The dirt lifted in the air, mixing in with the fog and becoming dust as it blocked their view of the man slowly standing back up. "You stupid humans," Elias spoke as he glared at them. His eyes flashed as he smiled darkly and said, "Can you really defeat me with such weak blows?" His expression faltered a bit as Marcos and Leo saw a familiar blur behind Elias who grabbed the back of his neck. Allen then said, "You better thank for this stupid shit when you wake up, Eli."

Before the possessed man could say anything, Allen quickly jabbed his fore and middle finger into different joints of his body as quickly as he could. Elias's red eyes slowly changed back to its normal brown ones as he fell forward to the ground unconscious. Letting out a slow but a relieved sigh, Allen spoke to the two, "Let's get out of here. I feel we've been here long enough."

**Lisa: *lets out a long sigh and then glares at Elias***

**Elias: … what?**

**Lisa: … *points at Elias* He is the reason why this chapter took so fucking long to be finished!**

**Elias: o0! But… I just wanted to help! TT~TT**

**Lisa: It was a piss off! When was the last time we updated? *looks at the fiction* …. October of 2009! OCTOBER! Do you know how long that is?!**

**Elias: … I'm sorry…**

**Lisa: Good, now back to the true main characters…**

**Francy: Fuck yeah!**

_**Shadow Court**_

"Aw, we're fucked," Anthony let out as the doors slammed behind them, causing the girl who was weeping to jump and hold on to him. Sparrow pulled out her pistol as they saw three shadows appear on the far side of the circular room. Anthony opened his palm, his hand charging up a Lightening Spell, but it was soon snuffed out. He tried to summon it again, flicking his arm down, but nothing happened.

"Your powers and weapons are useless in this realm," said the middle figure, standing rather docile. If it wasn't for the fact that the voice was male, Anthony would have that the figure was a woman. Cringing slightly at the near thought, his attention was returned to three figures as they said, "One of you carries the Dark Seal, but there are three. Only one is required." Sparrow and Anthony looked at each other with confused looks as the weeping girl was shaking badly.

"And we have already have one giving," said the Shadow Court, causing the two to be confused. "If it was as it should have been, one of you three would have to give up your youth so that Reaver shall continue to live." Hearing this information, Anthony quickly blurted out, "That son of a bitch, he was gonna sell us out just to stay young? I'm going to kill that fucker!"

The Shadow Court chuckled at this remark as they said, "The child knows of the agreement we hold and for that, we let anyone through here unscathed as the child wishes, but once they run out, we will soon return to our original agreement…" With that, the Shadow Court soon faded away, leaving a dumbfounded Sparrow and Anthony. As the room stayed silent, they didn't hear the door open or the girl giving a quick thank you before leaving. The Keeper of Light slowly turned to look at Sparrow and said, "I feel like we just wasted our time doing this…"

Sparrow soon shook from her stupor as she asked, "Then what is it that this Shadow Court is taking in exchange for letting Reaver stay young?"

_**Reaver Manor**_

Lee walked through the halls of the upper bedrooms, tending to them so that her master could use them when needed. As she headed towards the last room near the stairs, she heard footsteps as she turned to Reaver walking up them by himself. Slightly confused, she asked him, "My lord, are you well?" Reaver just waved it off as he looked into the last room and said, "Just continue with your business, girl. I just need some time to think for a bit." Understanding quickly, Lee nodded her head as she continued to finish her chore, placing the beddings on a nearby table in the room.

As she removed the sheets, she heard giggling coming from the hallway. Turning, she saw a young woman clinging to Reaver as they exchanged playful words and disappeared down the hall. Knowing full well that her presence wasn't needed, she quickly and gracefully placed the new bed sheets and rolled up the new ones. As instructed by her master, she threw the old sheets into the fire pit, making sure that none of the flames will escape on to the floor. Once that was done, she left the room and glanced down to the hall.

She would have been able to cover her ears to stop hearing the moans of pleasure from the room, but her ears were on the top of her head, making her remember why she was different from the people of Albion. Wanting to quickly leave, she quickly went down the stairs, touching the wall for balance as she held her dress up from tripping over.

Suddenly, she felt a large pain in her head as she shouted, holding her head with both of her hands. This caused her to nearly falling the rest of the way. As she fell into the small study on the second floor, her landing didn't go unheard as Michael quickly ran up the stairs to see her unconscious form. "Lee!" he shouted as he ran to the young girl, checking if she was alright. Sound of running from upstairs caught his attention as he saw the wench from earlier gasping in fear while Reaver looked down at the situation.

"We have to get her to a doctor, sir," Michael stated as he gently picked up the girl in his arms. "I'll bring her there and… and…" His words became lost as he saw the ears on the girl's head and the lack of human ones under her hair. The wench saw this as she gasped in shock. Michael said a small amount of words of shock as the wench said, "She's… she is… By the Archon, this is so something. A demon child in our midst this whole time?" She turned to look eagerly at Reaver as she said, "We can go and cash in this child to the Bounty Hunters, Reaver dear! Just think of all the money we…"

The words ended abruptly as the sound of a gunshot echoed through the room followed by the woman's form slumping to the floor. Michael looked shocked as he saw Reaver turn his pistol towards him. Before he could beg for his life, it was cut short. As he fell to the floor with the girl still in his arms, Reaver holstered his pistol into its rightful place before casually walking towards the unconscious Lee.

Gently carrying her in his arms, he brought her back upstairs and laid her in the room she had finished making. Turning to look at the fire place, Reaver saw that she had done what he had told her to do as the last of the sheets were burned, leaving only a small pile of ashes that were sucked into the chimney and into the sky. He looked at the unconscious girl as he petted between her cat ears, saying, "You ruined my night, my cat. I expect this to be honored tenfold when the time comes." He then left the room to call for someone to clean the mess in the small study, not wanting the girl to awaken at the dead body of the man who had guarded their front door for ten years.

He didn't see the girl groan in pain even more as she clenched her head, her eyes opening quickly as her eyes were filled to the brim with black as she muttered a small phrase to herself:

_The memory of the small funeral will be erased…_

_**To Be Continued**_

**Okay… I know that was very anti-climatic… but if you guys figure out what replaced the youth giving, then kudos to you! Now… review reply time! :3**

**Elias: You already have a girl so treat her right :D… cuz I'mma watching you .**

**: LOL the wonders of what happens in a span of ten years XD Thanks for the review… Poor Anthony…**

**cO_oKy"n"cR3m3: Ha, I didn't say they got together. :3 It looks like it… but is it?**

**Alvaro: Yes, it's funny! He got with Leo… Are you still arguing about if Leo is a guy or a girl?**

**Gaara_of_the_Funk2009: God… I laugh at these replies. They put a smile on my face, especially yours.**

**: I saw the picture… and it pleased me :3**

**Tal'eath: Thanks for the review. I never get tired of them either… just haven't read any in a while.**

**Alma: Aw! You forgot your password TTnTT And yes, it is funny when Reaver messes with Anthony. Remember, that was the main goal of this fiction… but we're gonna finish it!**

**The-Living-Shadow: Not sure if Reaver would deny money over sex… Hard to tell what he feels…**

_**Please review and we will try to post the next chapter sooner since Fable 3 is coming out! ARGH! We gotta bust our asses now since the game is coming out in November! That's in like… seven months! That's the same amount of months that took this chapter to finish! Darn you Elias!**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Note: Holy cow! I finished a filler chapter! Yay for me! XD Anyways, I got to get this fiction finished before November! Fable 3 is coming out! DARN IT!**

**Chapter 13  
A Week of Rest before**

**Izzy: Oh… that sounds really dirty…**

**Lisa: …. LOL XD**

**Enstranz: We are men, Isaiah. That's how men are…**

**Lisa: … what… the… fuck…?**

**Izzy: … *points at him* Wasn't he supposed to be dead?**

**Enstranz: I can't be dead… I'm a Demi-God!**

**Lisa: … *goes back to typing***

It was in the late afternoon when Sparrow and Anthony returned to the familiar scenery of Bloodstone. Not far ahead of them was the other group as Allen was carrying an unconscious Elias on his back. The Hero of Bowerstone and her Keeper quickly caught up with them as Anthony asked, "Whoa, you guys look like you just went through more shit than we did." A groan was heard as Elias started to stir, holding his head as he muttered, "Aw man… what happened?" He was dropped from Allen's back, landing harshly on the stone floor. Yelping and rubbing his butt that was in pain, he glared up at his friend and shouted, "Hey, what the hell was that for?"

"You…" Allen began as he held his kunai, pointing the sharp end right at the man's face. It looked almost like he was going to kill him, but Allen calmed himself as he placed his weapon away and helped the man up. "I'll tell you when we get back to Theresa. I'm sure she can help with… what you have now." Elias looked even more confused but was quickly pushed aside as Sparrow said, "Well, we better go tell Reaver that he is going to live a bit longer… and also get mad at him at the stupid joke he just tried to pull."

Anthony nodded in agreement as he looked at Elias, seeing his friend had a rather fearful face on his expression all of a sudden. Quirking his eyebrow, he asked, "Okay, Eli. You alright now?" He saw his friend slowly lift his hand to point at Sparrow as he asked, "You're… still young looking." Everyone knew that was a bad thing to say as Sparrow slowly became pissed off and threw Elias into the ocean. She then stalked off with Anthony and Doogal following close behind her while Leo was spouting out words like "Are you alright?" to the slowly reemerging Elias.

"Why the hell is everyone mad at me these past few days?" Elias muttered out in despair as he just stayed in the water. Leo just laughed as she then turned to watch the Hero of Bowerstone and her Keeper heading towards the Inn.

In the Inn, Jonnathan was busy drinking ale as he looked extremely bored. He heard footsteps as he turned, seeing the familiar faces of Sparrow and Anthony. Sighing in relief, he stood up and said, "Thank God you guys are finally here. We can finally get this over with." As if on cue, the familiar voice of Theresa echoed through their minds.

"_I believe your next encounter with Reaver will be… eventful. I suggest you finish anything important before you go to him. It also seems the man went off somewhere, as his maid will tell you, but you must stay in the area for now._"

"Argh! You got to be shitting me!" shouted Jonnathan as he slammed his fists on the bar, causing the other customers and the bartender to jump in surprise. Quickly apologizing for his sudden anger, Jonnathan looked at the two and said, "What the hell are we gonna do for the time being?" Sparrow just shrugged as she went off to one of the rooms, obviously tired from her fighting through Wraithmarsh and the Shadow Court.

Anthony promptly fell into a stool and just lay on the bar, tapping the table for a beer. It slid into his hand as he lazily chugged it, the liquid overflowing and spilling to the ground. The bartender didn't seem to mind as he just whistled to one of the ladies to clean it up. The woman was just about to place the mop on the puddle when Elias ran in with Rook in hand; Rook was being dragged by Elias into the inn.

"Hey, guys! You wouldn't guess…"

He didn't get to finish as he slipped on the puddle of beer that accumulated with the others puddles, causing him to fall on top of Rook. The man glared at him as he shoved him off with a Force Push spell. Some of the occupants looked fearful but everyone else were too drunk to care. Anthony felt the table shake from the falling as he turned to look just in time to see Elias hit the ground rather hard while Rook slowly stood up to dry out his clothes.

**Enstranz: If I was there, I would have made a grand entrance.**

**Lisa: Shut the fuck up, Enstranz! Go hang out with your stalking Mad Cow! *points at cow who is peaking behind corner and slowly slides away***

**Izzy: … WHY THE HELL IS THIS GUY ACTING LIKE MARKUS?! At least Markus was alive and in a different world! This guy is right behind us!**

**Enstranz: Because you stupid humans tried to kill me off, but you can't kill off a generic character created by another person! It's just not possible!**

**Lisa: …God damn you…**

"This idiot said he found some ghost on a nearby Cliffside and heard it spouting out rants of revenge and such," Rook explained. This caught Anthony's attention as suddenly the man stood up with his eyes narrowed with determination, taking the famous mode that most of his friends come to known.

Quest-Taking Anthony had risen…

**Enstranz: Seriously? That name is lame…**

**Lisa: I will kick you out of this house right now… now shut up…**

**Enstranz: …**

**Lisa: Good boy.**

It took them awhile to get to the cliff that Elias had mentioned and it was harder to jump to it since there had seemed to be some sort of invisible wall making sure they couldn't pass far off from the view of the town. When they finally and successfully got on to the cliff side, the ghost woman turned abruptly at them, a rather loud shriek emitted from her that caused Anthony and Elias to shriek in fear. Rook just shook his head as he spoke in boredom, "What is it you wish to be done or whatever you feel like tell us what to do in order for you to freakin' move on, ghost girl?"

The woman didn't seem to mind the harsh manner he had spoken as she gave out her request. Apparently, some man had run off from her on their wedding which caused her to kill herself. Rook was about to comment how stupid the woman was for killing herself over such a stupid manner, but Elias and Anthony quickly shut him up in hopes that the woman wouldn't decide to haunt them. They had to find some way to break the man's heart the same way he did, and then she would live in peace. With that, the woman faded away and left them to head back to Bloodstone.

Filled with vigor of handling a quest, Anthony pointed happily at the horizon as he announced, "Time to solve this quest and get some recognition, baby!" Elias whooped in agreement while Rook just simply kicked the blonde over the edge. Anthony didn't react quickly enough as he was sent into the water below. The black haired man whistled as Rook easy jumped to the main ground, leaving Elias to choose either to jump down into the water where he saw Anthony swim back to Bloodstone or climb back which looked even harder since Rook hadn't bothered to keep the rock edges when he left him there.

Allen and Marcos hid quickly behind yet another large tomb building as they followed a cloak figure through the large graveyard forest. For some strange reason, Allen had felt an odd feeling from the person that urged him to follow it. He would have easily ignored it if it hadn't been for two reasons.

One was that Theresa had said to follow the person.

Second was that the person they were following was Reaver, of all people!

They had nearly blown their cover since Marcos wasn't the best at stealth, but they were able to go this far without getting shot by Reaver. Either that the man didn't know they were following him, or he knew and he was just waiting until they were far enough to not scream for help when he does shoot at them; Allen prayed for the former to be true.

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Marcos had spouted out for the fifth time in the last two minutes as Allen then quietly snapped back, "Then go back to the town. I was ordered to go alone so you didn't have to come along." However, that was the same answer he was using since it all started, and the man didn't back away from following.

_**Three Days Later…**_

"Okay… so we found him," Elias stated as they finally located the man who went by the name of Alex. He was brooding on the bar while took down another swig of beer. The black haired man was about to approach him as Alex had his back hunched over the bar, but was pulled by Anthony as Rook just stood clearly in the open while the two hid behind the door. "What was that for?" Elias asked as Anthony glared at him. "Are you going to try and woo him?" Anthony snapped back. Elias blushed furiously as he answered, "Hell no! I was going to ask if he could get with Leo."

"Who's gonna get with me?"

The two looked up to see that the subject of the matter, also known as Leo the cross dresser, was standing just near them while eating celery. Elias laughed nervously as Anthony coughed and said as he peeked behind the door. Leo joined him as he pointed at the sad man and said, "A lady got rejected by that man and killed herself for it. We are trying to avenge her by making him fall in love with someone and then have that person reject the marriage proposal."

There was silence for a few seconds before Anthony was nearly knocked unconscious by a fist to the back of his head. He fell into the ground as Elias scoot away from him to avoid the weight. Turning to look at Leo, she glared at them as she said, "You two disappoint me greatly, especially you, Elias." The man shook in fear as the woman looked ready to deck him as well. She didn't, however. Instead, she walked past them and nearly bumped into Rook who was turning to leave; she was making a bee line for Alex to obviously tell them what they were going to do.

The two got up to stop her, but were blocked by Rook who was using his magic to carry them away. "Just leave the two alone," Rook bluntly stated. The two argued with him as Rook just forced the two to look. They watched as Leo approached the man and seem to freeze suddenly once he looked at her. The two men also froze as they caught a good look at the man's sorrowful face.

He looked just like their friend nick named Ducky.

**Lisa: Why was this guy nick named Ducky? How should I know? It just happened…**

**Elias: Oh! I know! It all started…**

**Lisa: I don't give a crap! Go to school!**

"No freaking way!" Anthony nearly shouted in shock. "That dude… is it Ducky?" Elias just shrugged as he tried to approach the couple, but was yanked back since Rook still had a grip on them. He then proceeded to drag them away and said, "Give them three days, and then we'll interfere." The two had no choice but to be dragged away as they suddenly watched Leo and the Ducky look-alike talk to one another so casually.

"So, we followed this guy for nearly three days with almost no food or sleep just to see him visit a grave?" Marcos nearly shouted out, but he was silenced by Allen who shoved the handle of one of his kunai in his mouth. As the man froze from the thought of being stabbed by his friend, Allen returned his attention to Reaver who was just staring down at the grave before him. The ninja was slightly surprised by this as he couldn't tell what the man's emotions were, but there was a sense of something that he couldn't name. As Marcos was trying to catch his breath from nearly choking on a throwing ninja knife, Allen shushed him as he quickly jumped into the trees hoping to get a closer look.

However, he noticed the grave were just a mound of kept cut grass that had a flower placed on each of the two. Reaver didn't seem to be moving or saying anything; he was just staring down at them. Deciding to find a better place to perch on, he gently went to the next branch that was just above the man's head.

Just when Allen was about to place his foot on the branch, a gunshot was heard which was quickly followed by a sound of wood breaking. Marcos watched from afar as the branch that Allen was about to sit on broke under his weight and was about to fall on top of Reaver. The Mexican watched in awe as the Pirate Lord easily caught the man and threw him to the ground in one swift and flowing movement. Allen's scarf slowly hit the ground as the ninja looked up at the angered eyes of Reaver.

"Looks like you have come to your own deaths," the man spouted out. Allen shut his eyes as his mouth twitched in fear underneath his mask. However, nothing happened as he felt Reaver stand up from him. The man did nothing to harm or even kill them as he then just walked away into the forest. Marcos quickly jumped from his hiding place as he ran to his comrade's side. "You okay?" he asked as Allen nodded his head in affirmation. The ninja quickly stood up as he glanced between where Reaver walked off to the graves he had previously stood at.

The ninja's hands slightly twitch, aching to use his ability in order to find out who the person in the grave was. However, he decided against it since it would desecrate the grave mark and also could give him a one way ticket to the afterlife. Instead, he decided to try another method of his ability. Walking to the clean and kept mound of grass, Allen gently pushed his fingers into the dirt of one of the graves and closed his eyes.

Using the ability he learned from the old man who took care of him and Elias during the ten years of waiting, his eyes flashed as small images played in the back of his mind…

He couldn't see well as the vision was blurred and the voices were muffled. He saw a figure holding what looked like a child. He heard only one word that was clear enough, "promise". The voice was too muffled to tell who it was, only that it was the male talking. The child was probably crying and weeping as he then noticed some sort of light dancing behind the figures. He soon recognized that the dancing light was fire as he then heard a distinctive sentence.

_I'm so sorry…_

Allen felt himself pulled away as he fell back on his backside, not realizing that he was holding breath the whole time. Letting out the air and starting to breathe normally, he saw that it was Marcos who pulled him out of his hypnotic state. Sweat rolled from his forehead as Allen wiped it off with his scarf. Letting out a sigh of relief, he gave his thanks to Marcos as he stood up and said, "I guess we better head back to Bloodstone. Marcos eagerly agreed as he was about to run ahead, only pausing he slowly turned his head to his comrade.

"Do you remember the way we came here?"

The ninja nearly dropped in shock as he soon realized that as they were so focused on following Reaver, they didn't decide a way to retrace their steps to get back to town. Allen then soon figured out why it took three days to get here…

Reaver had known the whole time that he was being followed…

Allen took in a deep breath as he cursed to the heavens above, causing some birds to squawk and fly away from the noise.

"Wow… I… kind of… like this Ducky better than the one back at home," Anthony confessed as he, Elias, and Rook watched from the tables placed outside of bar. They saw Ducky's past self watching the sunset with Leo as they were holding hands and looking rather romantic. As they watched the couple chit chat, Elias soon said, "Was this how it was supposed to go?"

Rook just shrugged as he took another swig from his beer, looking back over to the couple. He raised his eyebrow and said, "Oh boy…"

Anthony looked a bit confused by this as he turned to see that Leo was walking towards them with a rather beaming look on her face. Elias decided to ask, "What are you smiling about?" She just twirled happily and sang, "I think he's going to ask me the question!" The two men looked slightly confused as Rook translated, "She thinks that they guy will ask her to marry her." The two men nearly fell out of their chairs in shock, saying at the same time, "**Holy cow! That is really quick!**" Leo just smiled and walked away happily, not noticing that Alex was walking towards them cautiously.

Rook glanced at the man as he said, "I get the feeling this quest is going to get really stupid."

Elias looked at him questionably as he turned to see Alex pulling a chair and joining their table. He then promptly plopped his head on the table and groaned in a state of hopelessness. Anthony poked the guy's head and asked, "Seems like you got some tension going on in your head, my friend." The man lifted his head to glare at him, causing Anthony see the same glare he would get from Ducky back home. Alex then said, "I don't know how I'm going to ask her."

Elias and Anthony looked at each other as Rook decided that he didn't want any part of this. He got off the chair and walked back into the inn as Alex said, "It is like… she has given me back my purpose in life and… I want to really share it with her for the rest of mine." Elias tried his best not gag from this confession as Anthony thought, "Can't you just propose to her normally?"

"I do want to propose to her," Alex nearly shouted, looking rather pissed off as Anthony tried his best not to burst into laughter. His own face came off with a smile as his mouth twitched from the restraining of amusement. Alex then looked back down dejectedly as he said, "I just… she is special and I want to give her a confession that is worthy of her." Elias then made a gagging sound that was quickly silenced when Anthony stomped on his foot underneath the table. As the man groaned silently in pain, Anthony thought for a second as he soon remembered the ridiculous romance animes that his female friends would also go gaga about.

"I think I have an idea."

_**Three Days Later…**_

Anthony looked plain tired as they were going through Idea Number 45. They had not even used any of the plans before in public due to the fact that they didn't want to seem gay in front of everyone. However, Anthony soon rejuvenated his strength as he should have had this done in the first place. After watching numerous proposals through the years he was here, he had never seen any do some stupid kneeling and telling their full out feelings to the person before asking the damn question.

The hard part was that Alex had to say the words.

"But I don't know how to say it fully!" the teenager confessed as he looked completely like a school boy with a crush on a cute girl. Anthony sighed and said, "Do you want me to show you?" Elias nearly spat out his beer as Rook looked rather interested on what this meant. The Keeper let out a sigh as he motioned for Alex to give him the ring. Once he acquired it, he took in a deep breath as he started to speak in a charming tone. Feeling quite disturbed by doing this, even it was practice, Anthony closed his eyes to lessen the awkwardness.

"I… don't know how to say this to… but… I had fallen for you since you first came to me at that bar six days ago. I know that this… love is short and I know we have only known each other for such a time, but… this feeling I have… I can't explain it, but I really wish to let me be with you until the ends of my days."

Anthony choose this moment to lift his head and pulled out the ring, his eyes still closed as he didn't want to feel sick and end this lesson as he gave the final line.

"Will you marry me?"

There was a long pause as he heard some snickering behind him. He knew Elias was trying his best not to laugh and Rook was probably doing some way to record this down on something with his stupid magic. He then only felt a bit more awkward as he heard some shuffling in front of him as he felt hands hold his face and pull him rather gently towards the owner of those hands. Opening his eyes, he was greeted by the teasing eyes of Reaver as the Pirate Lord smirked at him. Anthony glanced behind him to see Alex shivering in fear as his whole person seemed to have lost his color.

"I didn't know you were so in love with me since we met, my friend," Reaver began to say as he suddenly pulled him into his arms, carrying him bridle-style as he said, "We shall have the celebration right now!" It was at that moment that Elias decided to laugh his bloody ass off as Anthony turned to glare at his friends and shout for their rescue. He saw that Rook was doing something with some sort of book as he saw some sort of image that was playing in the pages of the book.

It was what had just happened when he had his eyes closed:

When he was starting off at the second sentence, Reaver suddenly appeared in the pages as he then pulled out his gun at Alex as the man shuffled away silently from where he stood as Reaver took his place, looking rather amused by this event unfolding before him.

**Enstranz: I would have used a video camera, better imaging and HD quality.**

**Lisa: Video cameras never existed in this time period, Enstranz!**

**Enstranz: They can if I become the main character! *comes closer to her and pets her head like evil people do to their pets* Make me the main character…**

**Lisa: Get the hell away from me or I will kill you… You know I can! I have the power!**

**Enstranz: *sighs in defeat and walks away***

"You damn son of a bitch!" Anthony cursed out as he struggled to get out of Reaver's arms. Rook then closed the book as he held it under his arm and just waved good bye to them. With a snap of his fingers, he suddenly vanished in a flash of light to only God knows where. As he continued to struggle, he heard Reaver say, "You're lucky that I'm in such a good mood today since I won't be killing your friend there." Anthony turned white as he looked over to Alex who was talking to Leo. He seemed to explaining what had just happened with the help of Elias as the girl suddenly came into tears. The girl suddenly hugged him and spouted words that she would accept the marriage. Elias gave him thumbs up as Anthony returned it before motioning for him to save him. All the man did was just wave goodbye to him as he followed the couple back to the pier.

Just as he thought he was done for, he heard a familiar voice say, "I believe he was merely teaching that man how to propose to his lover, my lord."

Turning to look, he saw that they were now at the front door as Lee stood in the doorway, looking rather happy to see Reaver. The man sighed in mock disappointment as he dropped the man, causing pain to echo through Anthony's body.

**Enstranz: *looks at computer, sees it empty as he sits in chair* Time for some little… interpretations… :D**

Anthony looked pleadingly up at Reaver as he said, "That.. hurt, Reaver." His voice indicate that he wasn't just hurt physically but emotionally too. The Pirate Lord looked at him with slight worry as he confessed, "My little minx… I'm sorry. I thought you were just jesting." The blonde turned his head away as sad tears appeared in his eyes, causing Reaver to be taken back with surprise. Anthony then confessed, "When I saying those words, I was imagining that I was confessing them to you." Hearing these words, Reaver looked in shock as Lee covered her mouth in surprise.

Reaver then pulled him towards him as he say, "I never knew… my own feelings would be returned. Do you really feel the same way as I do, Anthony?" The blonde merely nodded his head as his hand held tightly to the Pirate Lord's vest, not wishing to leave his side as he wept. "I wished to find someone like you, but… I didn't think it would be possible! I thought I would be forever alone in my entire life!" Reaver shook his head as he gently made the man look up at him, his eyes filled with tenderness and love. "I won't let you ever be alone, my love," he said. Anthony smiled as the two leaned in to share an intimate kiss.

**Lisa: What the hell are you doing? *is holding a bowl of popcorn***

**Enstranz: *freeze in surprise as he slowly turns to look behind him* Oh… Lisa! I did not see you there… *glances at the screen* **

**Lisa: *glares at him* Get… the… fuck… off… now!**

**Enstranz: *quickly jumps off chair and races past Lisa, nearly making her drop popcorn bowl***

**Lisa: *walks to chair and sits* Damn, Demi-god… What the hell? *reads it* …ew! *looks at reader* … I'll just leave this but I'm typing in the real plot so yeah… *takes out remote and presses rewind to the part where Reaver drops Anthony***

"Thank God," Anthony spouts out happily as he stood up. Turning to look at Reaver as he walked into his own manor, he said, "Go find your bird friend. I'm ready to talk to whatever deal she has for me." Not waiting for a reply, Anthony quickly ran off back to the pier as he saw Sparrow walking down the hill from Wraithmarsh with Doogal. Sighing in relief, he went to her in order to relay the news that it was time to recruit Reaver to their cause.

_**To Be Continued**_

**Lisa: Okay! Time for us to work on the next chapter without any interruptions again! :3**

**Izzy: Let's do the review reply first.**

**Lisa: I'm not doing it!**

**Enstranz: I'll do it!**

**Izzy: Hell no! You're probably gonna try to get people to make you the main character.**

**Enstranz: That's the point!**

**Izzy: … Whatever, I'm doing it…**

**patattack: Thanks for the review!**

**Elias: ROFL! You and drinking games XD**

_So yeah, we'll get right away on the next chapter since it's the epic one! It's also the most hilarious one I love doing since Anthony meeting Reaver!_


	14. Chapter 14

**Note: Please forgive the lack of imagination in this chapter… It was due to college exams and writer's block. We are also working on notes for Fable 3… even though Lisa doesn't have the game… she's aiming for the Limited Edition but she has to play over Fable 2 since she LOST THE GAME IN HER OWN FREAKING HOUSE!**

**Chapter 14  
Into the Rear Passage to Fight a Floating Rock**

After the news of Reaver's return, Sparrow headed to the manor as she and Anthony stood at the gate that surrounded the manor. "You ready for this, Sparrow?" The blonde spoke with a hint of pride as the girl nodded her head. It was finally the time to fully recruit the Hero of Skill. As they entered into the property, Elias, who had accompanied them just half way, went back down to the pier to see Rook showing some sort of book to Marcos and Jonnathan as they were laughing their asses off. Elias just shook his head as he knew what they were laughing about.

He then heard footsteps behind him as he turned, he saw Lee walking down the steps from the direction of the Manor. Her expression was rather fearful as she slowly walked toward them. "Hey," Elias spoke, catching the young girl's attention. "Is something wrong?" She looked down worriedly, as if pondering if she should speak of what was bothering her. She looked at him as she then glanced back at the mansion. Sighing, her face was filled with determination as she said, "My lord… Reaver has done something terrible." Elias looked at her with some confusion before there was the sound of screaming.

The group turned to look as a floating upside pyramid floated towards the pier, shooting out a lightening to the ground as Spire guards faded in to the town. One of them pointed at the group as Elias looked at Lee and shouted, "Get back to the mansion and tell Sparrow to get out of there!" The girl did the opposite as she ran towards him. The man turned to look as a Spire Guard was about to cut him down. Just before he was about to feel the pain, Lee suddenly jumped right on the man's face, pushing him back as she jumped off. The black haired man looked in shock as the girl took down a Spire Guard in just one move.

"Dang!" Marcos exclaimed in surprise. Jonnathan just gawked as he then back kicked a Spire Guard who tried to take advantage of their shock. Lee then looked to Elias as she said, "Reaver had me send a letter to Lucien about the Hero's arrival. I'm sorry!" Elias looked at her in surprise as his memory soon came back about this part in the game. It has been awhile since he had called this world a game, but that was soon stomped out as more guards started to appear. Taking out his Dual pistols, he started to shoot down the enemy as he turned to Lee and said, "We have to go and warn Sparrow!"

But it was impossible as more floating rocks appeared and more Spire Guards appeared. Marcos took down a pair of guards with his katanas as he shouted to Elias, "We'll distract them! Go get out of here!" Elias was about to reject this proposal when Jonnathan pushed him up towards Lee who was able to take out the guard that was blocking the stairway to the upper part of the town. "Get the fuck out of here and get everyone to safety, **now**!" Elias hesitated before Lee grabbed his upper arm and pulled him towards the mansion.

It took awhile to run up the steps and around the fleeing bandits, pirates, and whores, but they finally reached the manor. The two ran into the study just as Anthony shouted, "You double-crossing son of a bitch!" Elias then knew he didn't need to tell them anything until Lee suddenly stepped forward, her hat off her head as she revealed that she the ears of a cat, similar to the wolf kind that belonged to Wolf. "My lord, the guards are not just coming for Sparrow," she spoke urgently. "They've come for you as well." Elias looked slightly shocked at this until he did remember someone shouting about the man, but he ignored it when he was about to get killed on the way here.

Reaver was obviously surprised as he began to spout his anger about this. Elias kept on glancing at the feline ears on the girl's head, knowing full well that he had seen them a lot because of his friends and their dressing up as anime characters in school. But to see a real live pair of them that wasn't attached to a rubber band or string… seemed slightly odd. He then turned to see Reaver standing in front of the bookcase on the right which was nearest to the door and said, "How dare he betray me… and just when I was in the middle of trying to betray you!" Elias could tell that Anthony was ready to use his lightening power to fry the man, but was stopped by Sparrow who shook her head.

They watched as Reaver pulled a book from the bookcase, hearing a click as the bookcase moved forward and slid across the floor, revealing a door. "I recommend we flee down this rather handy escape tunnel," he stated as he then turned to Lee and ordered, "Hurry to Smuggler's Beach and have the ship ready. I'm sure you can get there faster than us." With a nod of confirmation, Lee left the room and headed out of the building, not seeing Elias had decided to follow her.

Back with the Hero of Bowerstone and her Keeper, Anthony had to ask as curiosity grew in the back of his mind as they entered into the secret doorway. "What do call this tunnel anyways?" He saw that the Hero of Skill pondered a bit before answered, "I have probably called this… 'Reaver's Rear Passage', which is a good name too since it does go through the back way and a good shortcut through the mountains behind this luxurious home of mine."

It took only a few seconds when Sparrow heard no foot steps behind her. Turning around, she saw that Anthony seemed to be twitchy rather violently as he bantered out nonsense of not wanting to go in and how the name just sounded dirty. Sparrow shook her head as she dragged the uneager man into the tunnels.

Back with Lee and Elias, the two were forced to head back down to the pier as she said there was a safer entrance that only she knew about that would lead them safely to Smuggler's Beach. They were close to the hair salon when a Spire Guard was thrown out of the store and laid unconscious in the street. Elias turned to see Allen huffing and puffing while holding two kunai in his hands, both covered in blood. "This is ridiculous!" he shouted as he joined the two. "How the fuck can so many of these guys get here?"

They heard a loud battle cry as they turned to see three more were charging at them. Elias pulled out his pistols as he was ready to fire, but stopped when the Spire Guards were all engulfed in a wave of fire. He shielded the two with his cloak and once the heat was gone, he lowered it to see Rook walking past the charred bodies and said, "I suggest we make haste before we get ambushed easily."

Lee nodded her head as she said, "There's a cave at the far left side of this town when facing the sea, it was already cleared of all the spirits and is safe for smuggling our supplies and acquired items when things like this happen." Elias wasn't surprised by this but he wondered why they were taking a safe way that was only known by a few people when Sparrow and Anthony were following Reaver through a passage that was going to be filled by Spire Guards right now.

Before he could ask that question, they soon reached the harbor, seeing Marcos and Jonnathan taking down any Spire Guards that were coming out of the floating Spire Shards. Jonnathan kept stabbing at the necks with his daggers while Marcos kept swinging his katana. For some odd reason, Elias felt rather disturbed that his two friends were creating a blood bath, even if they were practically saving the town by swinging at the Spire Guards.

"Hey, hate to break up your little dance in the red rain," Allen shouted, catching the two men's attention. "But we have to head out of here if we want to catch up with Sparrow and the Hero guy." The two men nodded their heads as they took down a few more before attempting to join the four. They were stopped by five more guards as Jonnathan took out his already blood-drenched daggers and shouted, "We'll meet you at Bower Lake! You four better get out of here!"

Elias was about to shout when Marcos shouted, "Look, if you haven't noticed, we are busy taking these guys' attention so get those three Keepers out of here, Eli!" Elias looked confused before he stared at Lee who noticed that the men were all looking at her. She obviously looked uncomfortable as she asked, "Um… why are you staring at me?" Rook shook his head as he closed his eyes and said, "I feel like an idiot for not realizing this earlier."

"Look, we can talk about this later," Allen shouted as he grabbed the upper arm of the girl and had her lead them to the cave, leaving Marcos and Jonnathan to fend for themselves.

_**The Next Day…**_

**Lisa: This part was the bitchiest to do for some reason. I lost some imagination on this part so I just had the main character sum it up.**

**Enstranz: -smiles happily-**

**Lisa: Not you, Enstranz! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE! DAMMIT!**

Anthony threw another lightning bolt at the Spire Shard when it was about to fire another laser down on them. He found it quite frustrating that Reaver had betrayed them and they had to run through a tunnel during the whole night. It didn't help that a Spire Shard came out of nowhere and blew up the ship they were going to go on.

His charge was able to distract it as it quickly in on itself, preparing to summon more guards. He turned to see the few that had arrived earlier were still standing and was still intent on killing them. He pulled out his sword ready to join the fight, but stopped when he heard his name cried out in fear.

He didn't turn around as he felt someone shove him away before hearing a gun shot. Anthony was the only one to see that Shared had pushed him away, and took the shot from the Spire Guard's pistol. He fell to the floor as he held his chest. In retaliation, Anthony charged at the Spire Guard and decapitated him. After dispatching the man, Anthony went to Shared who was slowly standing up and said, "Go! Keep fighting! I'm fine!"

Although he knew that wasn't true, Anthony knew the man wasn't going to have him baby sit him through the whole fight. He was about to return to fending off against the Spire Guards when the familiar girl run past him. Lee bent to him and was about to place her hands on the wound on Shared's body, but the man stopped her. The blonde man watched Shared shake his head and mutter something. The girl replied back, but he didn't hear it as he quickly returned his attention to a Spire Guard that was about to stab him. Parrying against each blow, he heard Reaver shout to the girl to get out of the way, or something like that.

A loud humming and a red beam of light surrounded them, making Anthony quickly deduct on what was about to happen. He didn't waste time to assist Lee on carrying Shared away as he took out his pistol, shooting at the two guards who tried to attack them with their hands almost full. As the humming grew even louder and the beam becoming even brighter, Hammer suddenly appeared out of nowhere to assist, carrying both Shared and Lee as Anthony quickly after the women; all four were able to avoid the beam but felt the shockwave of the blast.

"**Anthony!**"

The familiar voice of the Hero of Bowerstone echoed through the battle as he looked over the cliff that once harbored the ship, seeing her shooting down even more guards from reaching Garth and Rook who were both charging lightening spells and shooting at the shard. The blonde man turned and watched Elias shoot down a guard as Reaver covered his back, easily shooting them down with slight ease and also irritation. The Hero of Skill glanced over to direction as he shouted, "Goddamit, woman! I told you to get to a safer place, not to get in other people's way!"

He heard the girl shout back, "I have to do this, my lord. It's the only way to save him!"

A guard got to close as Reaver pulled out his cutlass in reverse-blade style, slashing a deep cut into the man's stomach area as the Spire Guard staggered back. The red-wearing hero then shouted, "You can't save him, Lee! Don't you **dare** defy my order!" Anthony wasn't sure what was going on as his attention was forced upon Allen who landed on top of a Spire Guard that tried to charge at them.

**Izzy: That's a lot of charging going on here…**

**Lisa: They might as well be playing Left 4 Dead with a mod of only Chargers in the room… Aw that would suck!**

**Enstranz: I'd be able to take them all down with my might-**

**Lisa: GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE! RIGHT! NOW! I swear to god, I will do to you what those people did in the Pain Olympics. **

"Hannah, now!" shouted Allen as the woman unsheathed her hammer, pointing it to Allen as the man cut the part where the stick and the metal connected, twirling on it twice before Hammer tossed him into the air. Anthony saw that some ghostly orb growing from the ninja's hand as Hammer slammed her weapon to the ground just as Allen landed on it. The whole ground shook underneath them as Sparrow's Keeper saw decomposed hands holding either swords or none clawing themselves out of the ground. It was something out of some scene from a zombie movie as Anthony had a strange urge to cut them down, even though he knew they were on their side.

He saw Garth shoot a lightning bolt to his apprentice as the bolt split into many and embedded themselves into the bodies of five Spire Guards that were surrounding Sparrow. The men started to convulse as their bodies began to age rather rapidly before they became nothing but dust. Realizing what everyone was doing, he saw Sparrow run towards him while loading her pistol. The feeling of energy quickly surged towards his hands as sparks flew between his finger tips.

As if it was choreographed, he and Sparrow ran towards the center of the battle field, just right in front of the Spire Shard as the two stood just as they did the first time they had done this more than a decade ago. His hand formed as if he was holding a pistol was against her's that held one, the lightening enveloping the hands together. It was all on Sparrow as the Spire Shard was already charging its laser on them.

**Izzy: Would it be odd if I was thinking about that stupid "Imma fire mah lazer!" gag right now?**

**Lisa: No… but it is annoying that you are INTERRUPTING AT CRUCIAL PARTS OF THE STORY!**

**Izzy: sorry… hey… where's-**

**Lisa: Don't Mention his name… …I will kill you…**

She pulled the trig just as the humming grew at its loudest, the lightning bolt streaking behind the bullet as it embedded itself into the glowing orb. Anthony covered his eyes as the explosion emitted a bright light that blinded everyone. He was about to whoop in victory when he noticed that a good number of guards were still there and standing… and they were all fatigued and tired from using their combination spells…

Sparrow and Anthony walked backwards the best they could as they joined the group who were now all together. Anthony glanced to the laying form of his teacher as Lee was doing whatever she was doing to keep the man alive. Turning his attention, the Spire Guards had sneers on their faces as they bashed their own fists into their hands while some twirled their blades. "Well now," he heard Reaver speak as he stood in front of him and Sparrow, looking neither tired nor worried. "I guess we really should give them a hand now."

Anthony was gentle pushed aside as Lee stood with her lord, her hat gone as her cat ears slightly twitched. The sun was almost gone from the sky as it was ready to hide behind the horizon again, causing something rather unique. Everyone watched as the young girl's hair started to turn a rather sun-kissed gold as did her ears. He watched as Reaver pulled her towards her, flushing her back against his chest as the two held on to his Dragonstomper .48 pistol as he raised it into the air. It was suddenly enveloped by strands of golden light ribbons as he then fired into the air.

Slightly confused, Anthony was about to ask what the two had just done when he saw an end of the ribbon landed on his chest, giving him some strange of strength returning to him. He saw that everyone, excluding Shared, were also attached with the ribbons. His shock disappeared as he heard groans of pain. Turning to look at the source, he saw the Spire Guards were also connected to one of them as the color of their bodies started to disappear into the ribbons. Realizing what was going on, he was ready to pull of the ribbon from his chest when Reaver's gloved one stopped him.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, my friend," said the Hero of Skill as the bodies dropped. The ribbons then faded away as did the color of Lee's hair returned to its original color. Realizing what the girl can do, Anthony quickly grabbed her from Reaver as she dragged her to Shared. "Hurry, do what you did just now!" he demanded her, ignoring the slight fear in her eyes. "**Hurry up and heal him already!**"

"Anthony, stop that," he heard Hannah tell him. He glared up at the woman, seeing her slightly wince as he returned his dark stare to the girl. "**HURRY UP!**"

It was then he felt a strong grip on his wrist, causing him to stare down at the laying form of Shared. His clothing was covered in red, either his or the Spire Guards that he had killed, as there was a dark hole in his chest. "No use yelling what can't be done, kid," Shared stated as he coughed, blood splurting out from his mouth. The blonde quickly adjusted so he was lying against his chest as Shared stared at Lee, "I know you probably don't remember me, being that I was just a teenager when we first met, girl, but you had already saved my life once."

Lee looked at him with confusion, but she said, "If I did… then I can't do it again, can I?"

Shared shook his head the best as he could. Anthony felt the man slowly becoming heavy against him. He shook him and said, "No! We can get to Theresa! She should be here soon to teleport us out of this hell hole and get you patch up!" The grip on his wrist tightened as Shared spoke, "I don't think the old gal would… even want to patch me up… I had already defied death long enough…"

Looking up at him, he said, "I'm sure we'll see each other again… brother…"

With that, Anthony felt the man become limp as the grip disappeared from his wrist. The hand lay limply on the ground as the blonde saw the life disappear from his eyes.

A sad silence overcame the group, but it wouldn't last long because of a pompous bastard. "Well, now that we have done our parts and having such fun, I believe it is time for us to be off." He ignored the glares and shock stares from the group as he just turned and began to walk away and added, "Come, girl. We are leaving."

A form of light suddenly appeared just where Reaver had once stood before walking away, forming into Theresa. "Welcome Reaver," she greeted. The Hero of Skill and his maid turned to the new addition to the group as Reaver said, "Er… delighted to be here… er, whoever you are. But as I was saying before the enormous, pointy flying boulder interrupted, I really must go."

"Listen to me," said Theresa, standing the way she usually does with her hands placed together like a polite child. "If you do not help us, Lucien will control the world and every person in it."

"Well, he's welcome to them," the Hero of Skill just quickly replied, showing that he was a pompous ass. "People are a bit overrated, don't you find?" Anthony was ready to retort when Theresa stopped him by simply raising her hand. Cooling his anger down, he glared at the man as Theresa blatantly asked, "Then who will your young friend use in order to continue the charade of sacrificing to the King of Shadows?"

The man looked at her with a confused expression as she then asked, "Have you ever wondered why the girl has been so forgetful through these years?" Reaver narrowed his eyes even more as he turned to look at Lee who was walking to join him. Staring down at the girl, he then lowered himself to stare into her eyes as he asked, "Do you remember where we buried your parents, girl?"

Anthony saw Elias froze, making him turn to him as he saw the man leaning forward. Feeling uncomfortable by the close proximity, he scooted away from him before returning his eyes to the two. He was about to stumble in shock when he saw that Reaver's eyes had some hint of anxiety or something akin to it. Lee seemed to open her mouth, but nothing came out as she looked down shamefully and muttered, "I… don't remember…"

Rolling his eyes, he stated, "It's an easy goddamn question, girl! You kept repeating the bloody place just so I wouldn't forget it."

"So that's why he went walking that time," he heard Allen mutter quietly. Turning to him, Allen leaned to him to whisper, "Me and Marcos saw him heading to some grave place… and yeah…" He stopped himself as Theresa spoke loud enough over his shouting for the girl to remember the burial place, "She made a deal for you in the Shadow Court, Reaver. She is to give up her memories slowly so that you may stay immortal."

Anthony didn't need to pay attention anymore as he turned to the dead body of Shared. His eyes were now closed, thanks to Lee, as he looked more like someone who has fallen asleep. It would have been more like that if it wasn't for the blood and the bullet wound in his chest. Time seemed to pass as darkness covered the area; only a dog snout sniffed his hand before licking it. Looking down, Anthony saw Doogal's furry face as he turned to Sparrow before the familiar feeling of teleporting overcame him.

_**Old Town Bowerstone**_

"Hitsuguya, time to get inside!" Tuck shouted to his son as he opened the front door. The young white haired boy quickly ran in, just pausing a bit as he took a few steps back to shuffle his feet on the doormat. Tuck chuckled at this as his son quickly ran back inside and he closed the door. "What do you want for supper?" he asked.

The white haired boy gave a thoughtful look before spouting out happily, "**Chicken!**" Tuck just laughed as he calmed the boy down and had him sit at the dining table. He went to the make shift container which kept any food he had bought for the week cool until it was ready to be cooked, pulling out a chicken that had already been de-feathered and had spices covering its pinkish skin body. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the boy was already drooling on the table. Chuckling once again, he heard the sound of knocking on the door.

The sad look in his son's eyes just made him laugh even more as he went to the front door. The knocking became rather more urgent as he quickened his pace slight and said, "Hold on, hold on!"

"Papa, I'm starving!" Hitsuguya whined. "Can't we just ignore it and watch you cook already?"

He let out a loud laugh as he opened the door and said, "Just hold on a bit."

Tuck turned to the one who was knocking on his door, only to come face to face with the barrel of a flintlock pistol that had golden etchings.

_**To Be Continued**_

**Okays! So new chapter! Short but new! :D We'll be mostly working on this one more heavly than the Jak 3 one since Fable 3 is coming out soon… So yeah! Hope to see you guys soon in the next update since this story is about to end soon… ON NOES! THE ENDS! D:**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15  
A Small Chat before the Ritual that Ends Disastrous**

"What do you mean 'I can't go out to see my family'?" Sparrow's voice echoed through the Old Cave, nearly shaking it as Rook kept the wooden table still as he was ready a book to pass the time. Anthony was sitting on the edge of the landing, looking at a picture of the Hero of Oakvale staring down at the kingdom proudly. He had remembered taking the evil path, choosing to kill the Hero's sister in order to have the sword. He was too bored at the time to try to be a goody-two shoe in the second play through, but he was surprised to see that in this world… no… their past had the Hero follow the good path.

Staring down at where Sparrow was shouting her lungs out at Theresa who was showing no effect to it, he smiled as he felt glad that the Hero of Bowerstone was following her ancestor's footsteps. He then turned when Elias sat with him at the edge, looking rather happy. Quirking his eyebrow, he didn't need to ask when Elias spoke of why he was smiling, "I can't believe it's almost over… You think we'll go home after this is done?"

Shrugging, he turned back to look around as he saw that Allen and Lee were going to join them. Allen sat on Elias's right while Lee sat on Anthony's left. The girl let out a small sigh as she said, "I hope he isn't too mad that I disrupt his deal with the Shadow Court." It was obvious what she was talking about as Allen said, "I'm sure he was just worried about you…"

There was a sudden pause of silence among the four before Allen and Elias burst into laughter. Anthony just shook his head as he turned to look at Lee, only to come face to face with Doogal's very furry face. "God damn it, you fucking mop dog!" Anthony shouted in shock as the dog then pushed him back to slobber over his face. The dog suddenly stopped, as he just sat on his stomach while getting petted by Lee. Since everyone knew about her cat ears, the little hat she wore was gone as they were raised up, showing that she was happy to give the dog a good rub on the head.

"Would you mind getting the dog off of me?" he asked, groaning as the air was already gone from his lungs. "Losing… breathing capabilities…" Nodding her head, she nudges the dog off him to have Doogal sit on her left. The laughter soon disappeared as Elias then spoke, "I'm sorry… I just… can't really see the guy even caring at all." The men looked at Lee as she nodded her head and said, "Yeah… it's been awhile since he truly did care for anything."

Before he could ask further on that, Anthony and the men froze when they heard Reaver call to Lee. Well, mostly Anthony as he quickly pulled Doogal to him in a tight hug, much to the canine's excitement. The other two watched the girl quickly getting up as he led her out of view and into the dark caverns of the Guild Cave.

Once the two were completely gone, they saw Garth come out of the same way, looking obviously peeved as he joined Rook at the table. The older man spoke, looking like he was inquiring on what the man was reading. Oddly enough, Rook casually showed him the cover before returning to reading while speaking to him. Another voice called out a different name as Allen stood up and joined the table as he and Hammer surprised Rook. The mage cursed loudly at them as the manuscript he was reading was now closed and he had lost his page. Garth just shook his head, keeping silent as the two Keepers snapped at each other while Hannah laughed heartedly at this spectacle.

"Kind of reminds you of what we have back at home," he heard Elias state aloud to him. Anthony glanced over to him, unconsciously still hugging the bearded collie. (**Note: Yes, I finally found the correct name of the breed that Doogal is… near the end… damn it…**) The event unfolding before them was similar to the time when he last saw all his friends, the day when Lisa and Alvaro told him about the game and the choices.

He was suddenly forcing himself to think on what he was planning to do when he was playing the game. Sure, he was going to do what Lisa said, but after that, he was going to be all out evil. He was going to kill a whole town and do all the bad decisions just for fun. After all, it was just a game. But now that he grew in this world, he soon realized that choices have their consequences, whether they are good or bad.

"I believe I have found a way to return you two back home to your world," they heard Theresa speak as she was now standing behind them. The two stood up as Elias quickly asked, "Have you heard from Marcos and Jonnathan? Are they alright?" When there was no answer or reply from the elderly woman, Elias could only think of the worst as he looked down sadly. "What are we going to tell everyone?" he asked Anthony as the man shook his head and answered, "Maybe they'll come back just like how Annie did when she and the others did when they fell into Jak's world."

It didn't seem to soothe the man's anxiety as he then walked away towards the portal. He then said, "I'll meet you guys up top, okay?" With that, he went through the portal and disappeared in the light. Left alone with the old woman, Anthony then asked, "Do you think that is what happened to them, Theresa?" The woman looked at him with her blank eyes and replied, "Some things are better left unsaid, young man. All you need to know is that once this ritual is done, your part in this journey will end and you will be able to leave."

Sensing the slight irritation from her voice, he backed off and went to Sparrow who was seething with anger and worry. "I can't believe she won't let me go visit Tuck! I mean, it's just a day's journey from here and I thought we can do this ritual anytime later!" she shouted. Anthony smiled at her and spoke calmly, "I guess she just wants whatever you guys are going to be doing to be done already." Sparrow looked at him and added, "You're involved too, though I don't even know how this ritual is going to be like." Sighing, he turned to see that Garth was speaking with Rook while Hannah and Allen were heading towards the portal. It was obvious that everyone was going to have some talking before tonight… and it was still morning…

"I hope things turn out really good tonight."

Turning to look at Elias, Anthony was a bit annoyed by this constant hope for tonight as he blurted out, "If you keep saying that, you're going to jinx it and screw us all. And when that happens, I will personally kick your ass."

**Lisa: I was going to type separate passages here for each of the Keepers and their Heroes, but I had writer's block on how I was going to put them down as a whole… so we'll just fast forward to the ritual…**

**Izzy: That's stupid!**

**Lisa: Shut up! …Hey… where's…**

**Enstranz: I'm here!**

**Lisa: WTF? I thought I told you to get out of my house!**

**Enstranz: …I had nowhere else to go…**

**Izzy: ..Isn't he supposed to be… dead?**

**Lisa: I thought so too…**

Night came rather quickly as they all stood on the top of where Theresa said the ritual will be performed. Each of the three Heroes' keepers stood before them with their backs to them while Anthony stood in the circle with Sparrow, their backs to each other. "So, after we finish this ritual, we're gonna get sent back home?" Anthony asked the old woman as Elias stood with her on the sidelines. He saw his friend smile happily, as if he knew that everything was going to end the way it should.

"Let's get this show on the road, please," Reaver spoke impatiently, getting a glare from Hannah while Rook and Garth just shook their heads. He continued. "I have business to attend to and I would like to never have to see you scoundrels ever again."

"Who's the scoundrel?" Anthony muttered as he was about to step out of the circle to give a beat down on the Pirate, but was stopped when there was a sudden surge of energy coursing through him. He noticed that the other Keepers felt it to, but he saw that Lee seemed to reach for her forehead as she said, "My head… it's beginning to hurt…"

He saw Allen do the same with his throat while Rook was holding chest, all three of them were screaming suddenly in pain. "What's going on?" he shouted to Theresa, feeling his feet were rooted to the ground for some reason. "How come they're in…"

He never got to finish what he was saying as he suddenly hugged himself, feeling that some had poured hot lava into his veins and it was coursing through his whole body. He didn't hear Sparrow asking for his well-being nor did he notice that there were more voices in pain. Hot tears were starting to fall from his eyes, blurring his vision as he looked up to see Elias trying desperately to reach him. He was being pulled back by some sort of black tendrils from a weird looking ball, but the pain was still taking all of his attention.

Though it felt like years, the whole event lasted for a mere thirty seconds as he felt the pain stop. He found himself laying half out of the circle while he saw Sparrow barely standing, using her Longsword as a support. Lifting himself with his arms, he huffed as he looked up to see Lee just kneeling on the ground while still holding her head. Getting to one knee, he turned to see Allen just hunched over while standing. Finally standing but staggering a bit for balance, he turned to look at Rook who was just standing there while looking at the ground.

He felt Sparrow lift him up as he then stared to look where he had seen Theresa and Elias standing almost a minute ago. They weren't there anymore.

_I should be dead…_

Anthony flinched at the voice. It wasn't just because it echoed through his head; it was because voice was similar to his own. Turning to Sparrow, she didn't have the same bewildered look he had, so it seems that he was the only one hearing this voice.

_Why am I alive? I thought I died!_

"_Watashi wa… doko demo?_"

He and Sparrow turned to look at Lee as she seemed to stare at her surroundings rather curiously. Her cat ears were high up in alert as she looked at them and her face suddenly began to fill with fear. She suddenly screamed in fear as she stood up and stumbled backwards into Reaver. She turned and screamed even louder as she said, "_Nigen!_ _Iyaa!_"

"Be silent, girl," Reaver commanded. "Why the hell are you screaming for?"

"_Saru!_"

Anthony watched Reaver freeze at the mention of that word. Even though he didn't understand all of the language, he knew rejection of something when he saw it. Anthony suddenly heard a rather dark chuckle, turning to the direction it was coming from. Allen's shoulders were shaking as he suddenly lifted his head and laughed out to the heavens above, almost similar to the one laugh made a man who killed people with a notebook. "Aw man, this is rich! Who knew I would be able to find Heroes here and in such pathetic states?"

Anthony would have thought the man was making a vulgar joke, if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes were blood-shot red and he was holding his kunai. It didn't help much when he licked it rather hungrily either. A shiver went down his spine from that sight as he heard Hannah speak slowly, "Hey, Allen… are you okay?" The ninja then turned to look over his shoulder at her, smiling widely and rather insanely. "Hee hee hee… well, you might pose as a difficult problem, but I always love having a challenge before slitting their bloody throats and stepping in their fluids."

"What the heck is going on?" he muttered as Sparrow looked also confused. Turning to look at Rook, he was just standing there and staring at the floor. Garth was barely standing as he called out to him, "Rook, are you alright?" No answer came as the man just stood there, as if he was…

"Okay, what the hell just happened? Why are they acting like this?" Sparrow demanded before quickly taking her pistol out of the holster to the best of her abilities and pointed it at Allen who stopped mid step towards Lee. "You stay right there, ninja boy," she threatened as there was another sound of a click. She turned to look at Reaver who also had his pistol out and was pointing at Allen.

Garth stumbled from his spot as he touched Rook's shoulder. A simple tap made the man simply go limp and nearly fall to the floor; luckily, Garth caught him. Looking into his ex-apprentice's eye, he saw just a deep abyss of black on where the color of the pupil was. The man still felt warm, indicating that he was still alive, but he acted like he was paralyzed. "What _is _going on?"

Everyone's thoughts were then interrupted as the sound of rumbling surrounded them, including a trio of Spire Shards. "This is not good," Reaver muttered as all three shot out lightening to each of the Heroes. The three Heroes were surrounded by Spire Guards as Hannah was forced into heavy chains, Garth was forced away from Rook who just lay on the ground, and Reaver was forced to holster his gun and made to kneel on the ground and be cuffed. Anthony looked to see Allen just looking very pissed off at their arrival while Lee was stumbling away from everyone and trying to leave the area.

"I suggest you stand still, girl."

Anthony looked up to see a new man was standing directly in front of him. He had remembered seeing his concept art for a split second before he started this game back home, but he never felt such a menacing aura from someone who was once a loving lord. This was Lucian, the Lord of Albion. He held a Clockwork pistol in his hand and was pointing it at Lee. "Let her go, man," Anthony said as he fully stood, trying to look tough.

It obviously didn't work as he felt a sharp pain make him fall back to his knees. "Why the hell am I in so much pain?" he thought to himself. The feeling of pain and sudden sickness was overcoming him as he felt Sparrow kneel beside him, her voice was being muffled.

_I want to die... why didn't you let me die, lady? I had to die... It's my fault..._

_My fault... that my brother is dead..._

Sparrow looked down at Anthony with great confusion and worry. He was speaking as if he wanted to die. Was that what he wanted to do this whole time since they met? No, it wasn't true. Anthony had always shown great enthusiasm for her world and also was more eager to go home than die. Noticing that Lucien was stalking closer to them, she held him close as she pointed her pistol at him and shouted, "Stay back! I said, **stay back**!"

"It seems that I was informed rather in time," Lucien stated as he turned to the bolt of lightning coming from the Spire Shard behind him, letting two more people on to the floor. Looking to the two new arrivals, she was filled with relief that Anthony's other friends were still alive. However, that relief turned into fright as she watched Jonnathan pulled out a throwing knife and threw it at Allen, embedding itself right in his jugular. She heard Hannah scream out his name as the man fell back from the force and lay on the floor; a pool of blood grew from underneath him and surrounding his form. She glared at the hooded man and shouted, "**What do you think you are **_**doing**_**, Jonnathan?**"

The man didn't answer, ignoring Hannah's threats of retaliation mixed with pleas to the now deceased Allen. Jonnathan looked at Hannah with a face filled with no remorse or regret as he turned to do the same towards the direction of Rook. He was stopped by Marcos who shook his head and said something in a low breath. Jonnathan tilted his head, as if he was rolling his eyes before Marcos walked toward the laying form of the mage. Sparrow could do nothing but watched, as if some unseen force was making her cling to her Keeper as he kept muttering words of self-destruction. She watched Garth shout at Marcos to not kill his ex-apprentice, but once she saw the masked Mexican pull out his katana, it was inevitable.

Marcos knelt down to be on Rook's side, the young male remained unmoved by everything around him. Sparrow began to wonder why the Keepers were acting nearly almost the opposite of how they...

Realization hit her as everything she learned through the years she had these people as companions.

Allen who used to be a sarcastic man suddenly becomes sadistic...

Rook who was always stoic becomes a body with loss of all emotions...

Lee who made that deal to the Shadow Court for her memories in exchange for her lord's immortality that were now all gone...

But what was Anthony's problem?

The sound of liquid splatter from a person's mouth returned her attention to the man in her arms, seeing that he indeed thrown up on the stone and nearly on her lap. However, it wasn't food or body waste that came out of his mouth, but water... The thought process in her head then reminded her of the first day she met the man... she saved him from drowning in the lake...

The man started to convulse and shake, as if one would be when having a seizure. He continued to shake as his eyes rolled to the back of his head, water still flowing out of his mouth. "Anthony... **Anthony! Please!**" she shouted, but the man wouldn't stop shaking. Turning to look at Marcos, he saw concern in his eyes as he looked upon his friend who was probably dying before their eyes. She then turned to Jonnathan, whose eyes were covered by his hood and covered how he was truly reacting to this. She then felt the body in her arms stop shaking, making her quickly peer down at him as his eyes were rolled back, water still drooling from his mouth.

Sadness filled her as she screamed his name, her voice echoing through Bower Lake. She hugged the body close to her as she finally heard Lee whispering to herself in her language. Looking up, she saw Lucien was walking towards her with pistol in hand. Knowing full well what was going to happen, she pleaded, knowing full well that Reaver wouldn't even do so since from just meeting this man for the past few days, he was someone who wouldn't care who died.

"**Please, don't! She's just a child!**"

She watched Lee take as many steps back as she could before she stopped just at the edge of the hill. She nearly fell backwards when she nearly misstep. She saw the girl look over her shoulder before turning to see Lucien had the pistol pointed right for her head. It was obvious that the girl was fearful as she then suddenly glanced at Reaver. She heard the girl whisper something before Lucien pulled the trigger.

"**Lee!**" shouted Reaver, surprising nearly all the other Heroes by his outburst. This was the first time anyone heard the man call her by name. Sparrow watched as she fell backwards and off the hill. A few seconds later, the sound of something splashing into water was heard. "You monsters, how could you? Don't any of you have any honor?"

"Hannah," Jonnathan spoke, lifting his head up just enough to show his eyes that were filled with a sense of accomplishment and odd satisfaction. "Just shut up." Sparrow heard Marcos ready to protest, but quickly silenced himself.

"Then how about Theresa and Elias? Did you kill them as well?" Hannah demanded for an answer but Lucien answered, "I just merely... listened." With that, Sparrow saw the Spire Shards shoot out lightening again, pulling everyone except for her, Lucien, and the deceased bodies around her. Once the floating rocks flew away in the direction of the Spire, she saw Lucien walk to her and said, "I should have searched for you that night, then I wouldn't have any of this trouble happening, but... as you can see, it still ended as it should."

"Yeah, with the death of innocent blood, you bastard," she shouted.

"Ah, yes," the old man spoke with a malice thought. "Well, you see, I needed your Keepers in order to plant sadness into those three, for the ritual that I have thought of... they must fill great sorrow in order for it to be complete."

Sparrow knew that Hannah and Garth would be fully devastated by the deaths of their Keepers, but the thought of Reaver even looking saddened by Lee's death was absurd. However, her attention returned to Lucien as he pointed the pistol towards her, "And here, this is where you bloodline ends, as it is splattered all over your family home." Once those words fell from his mouth, Sparrow felt grief crawl over her as she whispered, "You're lying..."

"Your husband and child are dead," Lucien bluntly stated. "I would have had someone else do the job, but I learned from past mistakes that it is better that if you want something done right, you must get it done yourself."

The sound of growling woke Sparrow from her grief as she turned just to see a flash of black run to leap on to Lucien, only to be shot down point-blank. The mass fell into a heap of fur as she looked upon the dog that had followed her through everything. "**Doogal!**"

_I wasn't fully dead... but I'm close. I felt Sparrow tightened her grip on my nearly dead arms as she shouted her dog's name. _

_It couldn't have end like this. Was this what awaits anyone who plays this game? You would just go through all this fighting and turmoil just to be killed in the end?_

_I could never know... I heard another shot as Sparrow jerked back, releasing her grip from me which caused me to fall into the dark abyss that was waiting for me. As I fell into the blackness, I saw my life flash before my eyes, the life that I had went through in this world._

_Who knew that I would live only just eleven years and fifty one days more?_

Elias felt a sudden jolt as he shot up in his seat of his father's truck, grabbing to both the door handle and his father's arm. His dad jolted as well by this action as he said, "Elias, what the hell is wrong with you?" The red haired teen glanced around, seeing that he was surrounded by a familiar car frame and the scenery outside was the gates to his high school.

He was back at his home and original time period...

Triumph and victory filled him as he was suddenly forced out of the car by his father, which was normal. His father had a life too, he thought. After giving him a quick farewell, he ran towards where he knew everyone was waiting. He quickly skidded into the back of the quad, nearly surprising everyone that he knew was there as he shouted, "Good morning, everyone!"

Mahala looked at him weirdly as she asked, "Okay, who didn't take their meds today, because no one should be that hyper unless you are Michelle over there drinking _Monster_." There was a shout of a protest coming from another gathered group of teenagers as a Filipino with glasses and a black ponytail started to blurt out random Japanese words. Elias saw that she was rather louder than usual as he noticed Cynthia and Jhenifer sitting in the back, talking amongst each other. There was one person missing as he then asked, "Hey, guys. Where's Francy? Is she absent today or something?"

This caused most of the people around him to look at him with confusion as Rose asked him, "Uh... who are you talking about, Eli?"

Disarray filled in him as everyone was giving him odd looks. "You know? Francy? ...Francesca Perez? ...the senior... hangs out with them." he pointed at the two girls as he mentioned the last part. Everyone just stared at him as he then said, "Okay..." He then glanced around for another familiar face that was missing as well. Concern overcame his confusion as he started to question some of the others about the girl and Anthony's whereabouts. No one seemed to know who he was talking about.

_What the hell is going on here?_

_**To Be Continued...**_

**Oh no! The Keepers were killed off! Elias returns to his own time to find that no one seems to know who he is talking about! What is going on here? Wait for the next chapter will be the second to last one. The next chapter is basically the one that will answer most of these questions that we need to answer.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Elias: *walks in* hey Lisa I got some more story ideas...**

**Enstranz:*glares at Elias***

**Elias: um maybe I should leave**

**Mad cow: *peeps from across the corner***

**Izzy: wait why is he leaving**

**Lisa: oh cuz Estranz wants to kill him to become the main character**

**Estranz: *sharpens his blades***

**Elias: O.o *runs out the door***

**Estranz: *chases after Eli***

**Izzy: Hey… now you should lock the door so they don't come back**

**Lisa: I've tried but he always comes back… but anyways, here's the final chapter… I know, I said it would the second to last one, but Fable 3 came out and I finished in just two days after its release (GO ME!)… So yeah… :D Enjoy the last chapter!**

**Chapter 16  
Non-Existent in another Realm**

"Okay, this is some kind of random joke, right?" Elias spoke in disbelief, starting to search around the corners as he called out Francy and Anthony's name. He looked all over the quad, but there was no sign of the white skinned boy or the Mexican, glasses-wearing junior high school student. He didn't see even their bags that were usually lying with everyone else's. "Okay, this is starting to not be funny," he muttered as he rejoined the confused group of friends.

"Dude, you okay?" asked Steve as Elias nodded his head. "Okay, because you're starting to act a bit psychotic for a second there, spouting out people's names. I was going to call the insane institute." He watched the Mexican walk away as he turned to see everyone talking with one another, nearly leaving him alone to stand there with a shocked look.

No one seemed to know where Francy and Anthony were. Heck, they were acting as if they never met those two or even know who they are. He then heard the bell ring, indicating that the first period of the day ended and the six minute break. Everyone began to pick up their backpacks, heading to the classes they have been going to for four months. Elias unconsciously picked his bag and walked to his class, thinking over what was going on.

_Okay, think, Elias. Back track… the last thing before you woke up at the front of the school was the stupid ritual on Hero Hill. Theresa said something… but what?_

The day kept on going by as it usually did, and lunch time soon came. Once there, he noticed that the group seemed smaller and less active than usual. Placing his backpack in the pile of others, he joined Rose and Josh who were busy eating their lunches. He sat silently, watching them consume and chatter before he heard a female voice ask, "You okay, Eli?" Turning around, he saw August standing behind him, her face filled with concern framed by shoulder-length light brown hair. The light-skinned female waited for an answer, which came out as a small nod before he turned to look at the empty grass area.

Throughout the whole day, he learned that everyone forgot about also Ryan, Alvaro, and Lisa, and that Marcos and Jonathan had never returned home on Friday. It was infuriating him as he watched everyone was just chit chatting. No one seemed to be active since no one didn't even make some imprudent performance or play a foreign game. Hell, he didn't even see any of his Asian friends in the area. Informing his friends that he was going to get his lunch, he headed towards the cafeteria, seeing nearly everyone else was doing their own thing. He soon reached the long line to purchase today's lunch, Turkey and Gravy.

**Lisa: Okay, that was the only food I would get in line for throughout my school life. I loved that stuff with the mash potatoes… God, I miss being a kid.**

Turning around, he saw that Queenie and August hide joined him in line, much to the dismay to others who were behind him. "Can we talk really quick? It's important," Queenie requested. Elias looked at them and the line before he nodded his head to follow them to the library.

"**Hello! Is anyone here?**"

Anthony shouted into the dark abyss he found himself in, seeing nothing by the swirling purple and black with a mixture of smoke that wasn't messing with his breathing but his eyesight. His katana was gone and he couldn't summon his lightening to enhance up his surroundings. After some long wandering, he soon noticed some sort of structure on his left. He quickly heading towards it since nothing really comes good from being outside of nowhere. Then again, nothing goes well for anyone who goes to a building that is alone in a large area of blackness. That didn't keep him from opening the door to see the inside of some cabin.

In the middle of the room was a man with dark blue hair that was similar to the style of Axel but shorter. He wore a vest that had its sleeves torn off and a pair of dark brown baggy cargo pants. Black boots with belt straps covered his feet and lower legs as the cargo pants were tucked into them. A black blindfold covered his eyes, but that didn't stop Anthony to know that the man was staring at him once he entered the cabin. The blonde man turned to see that the blindfolded man was sitting in front of what looked like… cup of noodles?

"Evening," said the man, catching Anthony off at the familiar sound of the voice. It was similar to someone he knew, but he couldn't place his name on it. "Would you like to join me in some of this 'instant noodles'? They are delicious."

The blonde felt awkward, but sat Indian-style with the man anyways as he saw him pull out another cup out of nowhere. Hopefully it didn't come out of his backside like how some of his friends joked about that Japanese duelist does to cheat and win a duel. What surprised him even more was that the cup was already letting out steam. When did he ever pour the hot water? Heck, where was the stove? There was really nothing in this room except for their own persons and the two cups.

"What are you looking at?" the blindfold man spoke. Anthony waved his arms in defense, not wishing to offend the guy. He felt this sense of power coming off him, and since he had nothing to protect himself, he has to be nice to this man until he does. After another long moment of silence, Anthony coughed and said, "So… do you know where we are?"

"We are in Limbo," said the blindfolded man. He then quickly added, "And no, it is not the game that involves a stick and bending your spine to go under it." Slightly taken by this, Anthony waved his hand and asked, "Hold on. Are you telling me that I'm… dead?" The man didn't reply as he took the cup and opened it. Taking a good long sniff, he took out his fork and started to eat.

"Okay, where the hell do you keep pulling those out?" Anthony demanded.

"It's called 'pockets', boy," the man said, sighing in the same manner as the person Anthony knew but couldn't figure out who. Seeing him take a long sip, Anthony was about to join with his own cup when the sound of screaming from the outside caught his attention. Heading to the door he went through, he opened it to be greeted by Allen who crashed into him. The two rolled back into the cabin, passing the noodle-eating blindfolded man before crashing into the opposite wall.

Feeling a wait on his lap as he was sitting against the wall, he looked at Allen who was huffing and puffing. Looking down at him, Anthony said, "Um… I think we are safe in here, Allen. So I think you can get off of me now." The ninja stopped breathing hard as he shot to stand up straight as he wiped the non-existent dust off his clothes. It was then Anthony noticed that the man wasn't wearing his mask, revealing that he indeed had the same features as Alvaro.

"Well, I wasn't scared of anything if that is what you are thinking," Allen spoke suddenly which got a head shake of disapproval from the blindfolded man. Anthony just stood up and said, "How'd you get here from the darkness outside?" This caused confusion in Anthony as he went to the door, and saw that the cabin was now in a large forest. The trees were almost even parted to let someone maneuver through them quite easily. "Whoa… I didn't see this here before," Anthony commented as he was about to step outside when he heard the blindfolded man say, "The outside of this cabin reacts to one's trying moment."

"Say what?" said the two men before the blindfolded man sighed and stated plainly, "It reacts to your most regretful moment. So go and fix that so you can get out of here." He then proceeded to eat the other cup that was for Anthony, leaving the two men to go outside into the blinding light of the forest.

Upon setting foot, Anthony felt himself change as he looked at his hands, seeing his gloves disappear to reveal bare ones. Looking on to himself, he noticed that he was back to his teenager age and the attire that he had worn back when he came to the Fable time. Feeling the top of his head, he was indeed wearing his beanie that covered his very, very short hair. Turning to look at Allen, he saw both surprise and the clothing he had first seen the boy wear. Sadly, they were still had no weapons.

The ninja looked at his own self as he adjusted the Assassin coat that he was wearing and said, "I can't believe I wore this. This is seriously not me… well, anymore." Anthony chuckled and proceeded to follow Allen through the forest, trying to remember their every step so they can return to the cabin.

As they ventured through the woods, they soon heard the sound of a twig snap. Allen stopped himself and Anthony from continuing, searching through the tree line and branches before he quickly grabbed a pebble from the ground and threw it behind them into the tree line. The two waited until the cry of pain and a person hitting the ground echoed through the wooded area. Heading to the source, the two teenagers came upon a woman wearing similar attire to Allen, only that she had a lack of a coat and wore a black sports bra to cover her chest as discreetly as possible.

Anthony was about to let out a wolf whistle when he heard Allen muttered in astonishment, "Shizuka?"

Once finding a table in the Fiction section, Elias sat with August and Queenie. The two girls seemed disturbed by something, so he inquired to it. It took a long moment of silence and having Queenie glancing around before nodding to August who said, "You do remember Francy and Lisa, right?" Elias looked slightly surprised by this as he nodded. "Well, before you got here, Queenie and I were talking with Lisa and Raoul as she was doing one of those on-the-fly stories she does, like the bottle one."

"Oh yeah, that was hilarious," Elias agreed a bit too vociferously which got him a hush from the librarian at the front desk. Letting out a quiet apology, he let August continue.

"As she was getting to some weird part about how Mountain Dew came to be, she started to fade away, like she was literally fading. I thought I was hallucinating, but Queenie saw it as well as she shouted to her. Raoul gave her this face and asked her why she was yelling."

"And she wasn't the only to disappear," Queenie joined in quietly. "Francy started to fade away as well while talking with Cynthia and Jhenifer. The same thing happened with Anthony when he saw trying to show off again."

"Hold on," Elias interrupted as he made a "T" with his hands. Lowering them, he said, "You're telling me that they faded away just in front of you guys, and only you two reacted to this?" The two girls nodded their heads as he placed a hand under his chin, trying to piece together this new information. He then asked about Alvaro and Ryan since the two were at least in their classes before lunch. August told him that they just faded before sitting into their chair as some other student took the seat.

Before he could think more into it, the warning bell rung through the library as he then stood and told them, "Let's meet up at Pizza Supreme and talk more about this. Something must have happened after I got back, and we need to figure out what it is." He heard Queenie question this since he hasn't been out of school since the start of the year, but he told her that he would explain was they were at the pizza joint.

Anthony quickly jumped from yet another attack from the female ninja while Allen dodged a dozen ninja stars coming at him. "Shizuka, what are you doing?" Allen demanded, but only received another barrage of ninja stars towards him. Seeing the two flipping across the tree branches, Anthony felt slightly disadvantaged as he couldn't really do much since nearly all of the attacks were aimed at Allen. He was only in danger when Allen lands just near him right when the girl threw projectiles at him.

"Who the hell is this girl?" he asked loudly once Allen stopped playing monkey with the girl who landed far from them, glaring at them with such malice that seemed to be unfit for her childish eyes. "The kid's Shizuka, a… friend that I made long ago, but I thought she was dead."

"Well, tell that to the crazy chick who is going to skewer you right **now!**" Anthony shouted lastly before he jumped away from him. Allen did a back flip to avoid a stab of a knife from the girl. As he watched his friend continue to dodge slashes, the blonde looked around until he found a large branch that lay on the ground. Picking it up, he charged at the girl and swung it like a bat, connecting it to her head and sent her flying into a tree. Anthony looked shocked at his own force while Allen just whistled in awestruck. "Nice swing," Allen spoke, getting a rather disgusted stare from Anthony as he shouted, "Hey, I just knocked a girl who was your friend into a tree, which I think caused her to break her neck, and you are not mad at me?"

When he just got a shrug in reply, Anthony slapped his forehead as he muttered, "I'm now not surprised that she had wanted to skewer you just now." He then heard a rustle of a leaf as he turned to see the body of Shizuka slowly standing up. "No… fucking… way…" Hearing this, Allen watched the spectacle himself; feeling shaken as he whispered, "Impossible…" She slowly stood back on her feet, her head turned rather non-anatomically before she bent her arms to turn it to its rightful position. Anthony was horrified while Allen stared at it with recognition.

"Wait… I know how to beat it now!" he realized out loud. Anthony just watched him charge at the girl who was speeding towards him. Covering his eyes to not see what happens, Anthony only learned that was a bad idea as the sound of a blade slicing through flesh ringed through his ears. Looking up, he saw both ninjas standing still in a stance, making him anxious to see who the victor was.

"Allen!" he shouted in concern as Allen fell to his knees while clutching his side. He stopped when he watched the girl fall forward to the ground. He looked to see the body slowly decay before becoming nothing but bones and cloth. Looking confused, he saw Allen stand up and said, "I know where we are… we're at where I met…"

"Hey there," a familiar voice shouted, catching the two boys attention. Anthony nearly fell down in shock to see Hannah coming out from behind the trees, clad in her monk attire and her large and buff frame. She had the cheerful look in her face as she stopped just a few feet in front of them and asked, "What are you doing out here?"

Anthony saw Allen seem hesitantly on answering before he took off his mask and said, "I guess I'm a bit lost, ma'am. Can you tell me where the nearest inn is?"

The two turned to look at Hannah, seeing her mouth move to let out a reply, but there was no sound coming from it.

The blonde was about to speak when he suddenly felt himself pulled backwards by an unknown force. In a few seconds, he found himself back inside the cabin with the blindfold-wearing man and Allen who looked deeply disturbed. "What'd just happen?" Anthony asked, mostly towards the man than Allen. There was a long silence before Allen said, "That was what I did… before I met Hannah."

Anthony just gawked at him before hearing the blindfold-wearing man say, "I hope you learned to not to take things for granted."

"What the...?" Anthony then stalked the man and tower over his sitting form. "How can anyone learn from what I can guess to be a dead person trying to kill you?"

"I did something different that day though, Anthony," Allen spoke up. Once he regained the blonde's attention, he said, "I never spoke to Hannah until nearly a week before meeting you and Sparrow. I never spoke even once… and yet…"

"And yet, she still became one of your closest friends," the man finished for him. Becoming quite irritated, Anthony then shouted, "Who the heck are you?"

The man placed down the cup on the ground before turning his head to make it seem like he was staring at him. He then answered:

"I am Enstranz the Demi-god."

The end of the school day finally ended, and Elias ran to the small pizza joint that he and his friends would hang out after school. Upon entering, he saw that Queenie and August were waiting for him in the back while some of his other friends were either chit chatting or playing the four arcade games that were placed strategically to be seen nearly first upon entering. The loudest was the DDR machine as he saw Jhenifer and Ricky playing Butterfly. Ignoring the freestyle moves the girl was pulling, he followed Queenie and August to the back.

Once there and knowing that no one was going to walk in on their conversation, he heard Queenie ask, "What is going on, Elias? I'm starting to worry, and not just because we are the only ones to remember everyone." Knowing full well that they weren't going to help without knowing everything, he started, "Well, it started I guess, in this time period, just last Friday."

"What do you mean by 'in this time period'?" August asked, but was immediately shushed as Elias began to relay all the events that have happened to him and the others after Anthony left school to get Fable 2. After a very long explanation, leaving out the funny parts about Anthony and Reaver in order to keep it serious, he was quite surprised to see that the two girls were quick to accept this. However, he then remembered all the things that Lisa and the older teenagers had went through just months ago.

That's when an idea snapped into his head. "We can go find Naoe!" he shouted, scaring the two girls since there was silence after his explanation. "He can help us get to the past and save everyone."

"But since Lisa isn't around, wouldn't that mean Naoe didn't come to America to be her bodyguard, or whatever he was?" Queenie spoke, killing the hope that had risen in Elias when he thought of the man. Sighing in defeat, he looked down at the tar floor before hearing August ask, "How about we head to Anthony's place?" He lifted his head to stare at her with skepticism as he stated, "Don't you remember that the guy doesn't exist? Why do you think that his family will own that house right now?"

"But wouldn't there at least be some sort of clue since it was Anthony's house? It's better than just standing here without any idea what to really do," August retaliated. Although it seemed like a weak argument, Elias consented as the three headed back into Pizza Supreme. Dillon saw the three grabbing their bags and he asked, "Hey, you guys heading home already?"

Queenie quickly said, "No, we're heading… back to school. I forgot something, and then we are heading to Elias's house." There was a long pause of silence before Dillon just waved them off to go talk with Ricky who was now out of breath and tired from playing the dancing machine while Jhenifer danced happily. They then headed outside as the sun shined brightly in the sky. Elias looked at his watch to see that it was half past three o'clock in the afternoon. Nodding to them, he lead the way to Anthony's house… well, the house he was in when he still existed in the world.

"So, you're telling me you can make all this crazy stuff happen around us just because you're a… demi-god?" Anthony summed up what Enstranz said who nodded in confirmation and took another long sip from his hot green tea. Allen just scoffed it off, being one who was Atheist as he stared at the walls, seeing that there were no windows. "Can you at least put some windows in this cabin? I mean, at least you can see where the hell you are." The blindfolded man shrugged as he pointed at his blindfold, "Why would I when I can't see shit through this cloth?"

"Good point…" Allen muttered as he sat with them and said, "So, how come you aren't attacking us like you did back at the tower?"

Placing the cup back on the ground, he explained, "Lucien had some sort of mind controlling spell that affects my human form, and the only way I can exist in that world is if I am like you." Taking another calm and long sip, Enstranz let out a satisfied sigh which was starting to annoy Anthony who snatched it from his hands and then asked, "If you are some sort of god, can you at least help us find Rook and Lee? And by the way, can you also revive us so we can help the Heroes?" He gave the best cheesy smile that his pride would let him muster. Enstranz simply denied which caused him to fall backwards, lying on the wooden floor.

"And why the hell you won't help us?" Allen demanded.

"I'm helping you right now," Enstranz simply stated. "I'm protecting you from whatever is out there while we are traveling."

"That doesn't count!" the ninja snapped back. Hoping to keep his anger in check, Allen took a deep breath as he then asked, "Can you at least tell us what happened during the ritual we did?" Getting another simple shake of a "no", he was about to stand to beat up Enstranz but the cabin shook violent as it felt like everything stopped. Allen lost his balance as he jerked towards the door which opened before coming in contact with the boy. Anthony turned to see that the outside didn't change much from their previous stop, except there was a large black metal gate behind some sort of stone pedestal. Anthony immediately knew where they were; they were at Brightwood. Stepping out, he turned to Enstranz who once again didn't move from his sitting position. He wondered a bit if they man had lost feeling his legs already from sitting there for who knows how long.

Once stepping outside, the sunlight suddenly disappeared as the dark sky of night and moon replaced the blue sky and the sun. He felt slightly frightened as he only had his katana back from the fight against Shizuka, which still reminded him of some sort of game reward for killing a boss. Pushing it to the back of his mind again, he looked to see Allen heading towards him, twirling his kunai. "I take that we are now where Rook is," he simply stated.

"Why do you say that?" Anthony asked as he then pointed behind him. Turning he saw the familiar form of Rook, only in peasant clothing. He saw fear flowing out of the man as he was being chased by some sort of floating monster. As the man and the monster got closer, Allen and Anthony suddenly shouted in horror as they soon realized that Rook was being chased by a Banshee with white clothing. "**Run away!**" shouted Rook as he sped past them and into the gates. Urging them to come to the other side, the two teenage boys didn't hesitate as they slipped through the gate opening. Rook then slammed it shut as the Banshee continued to charge at them.

About to keep on running to the tower that was obviously down the road, Anthony was surprised to see the Banshee stopped just short of touching the gate. Upon closer inspection, Anthony felt a sense of Will coming off the gate. He began to smile widely as he hooted into the air and taunted the creature, "Ha! You can't get us, ghosty! Ghost-wosty can't get us because she is scared!"

He was going to continue taunting it when he heard Rook speak out, "Yeah, so much for stealing our life force! Go back to the ghost world, Banshee, and go bother some other person, namely Giles the Sheriff!" The two other teenagers looked at him in surprise, finding it a bit odd to see Rook seem so care-free. The teenager then smiled at them and said, "Oh, no need to thank me! Just doing my job as the next great mage of Albion." Allen just stared while Anthony was in great disbelief, gawking at the teenager as he hesitantly, "You're… Rook, right?" This didn't seem to soften the ego that was in the boy as Rook stated, "Aw, it's great to meet my fans who admire my work."

"By great Avo's will, I hope you aren't referring to that ridiculous stunt of creating that weird gelatin creature with a furry head."

Shocked by the familiar sound of the voice, the two turned to see Garth standing on the road with great displeasure in his stance. Rook laughed nervously as he twiddled his fingers and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, Teacher. I had never seen that thing before." As the two continued to exchange quite humorous banter, Anthony and Allen just gawked at this new side they had seen in Rook. Not once have they ever seen him act so carefree and… it was just plain scary.

"Want to come along with me and Teach?"

Anthony jumped in shock as he stared at Rook who smiled at him and Allen. Before he could stammer out an answer, the teenager boy ran down the road after hearing Garth shout his name in irritation. Watching him run down the road, Anthony looked at Allen who shrugged as the two followed him. Allen turned to look back to see the gates still closed and there was no sign of their presence…

… No footsteps tracked into the ground by Anthony's sneakers or his boots...

… Just only the ones from Rook and Garth…

"**Get the hell off my property, you brats!**"

The trio of teenagers ran from the lot and down the street, not wanting to get shot by the drunken man who was living in Anthony's house. Technically, it was that man's house now since Anthony doesn't exist anymore. That thought made him stop his haste as his two friends quickly followed suit. Once they turned the fifth corner, they stopped to catch their breaths as Queenie fell to her knees and said, "Why… are we doing this… again?"

"We need to get into that house," Elias declared once again, getting a groan from the girls as August said, "Look; we can't go on that property without getting our asses shot at and/or get arrested for trespassing. I bet you didn't hear the guy shout that he was going to call the police." Seeing the shocked look gave the answer that August needed. She moved to help Queenie up who gently waved her off as she stood on her own. "We should find some sort of way to find something about why they disappeared," she stated as she started to walk ahead of them.

Turning to look ahead, she paused in step. Elias looked up at her as he turned to look to what made the Asian freshman stop. The elderly woman in red had her face and red hair hidden under a hoody, but that didn't stop Elias from whispering her name.

"Theresa…"

"Wait, you know that lady?"

Ignoring whoever spoke that, Elias stalked towards her and grabbed her collar. Pulling her close, he noticed that she was nearly an inch taller than him. He then shouted into her face, staring into her blank eyes. "You bitch! This was all your doing, you selfish whore!" He felt someone pull him back, but he shrugged them off as he continued shouting. "You selfish… I don't even know what else to add, but this is your entire fault!" He lifted his right hand into a fist, aiming to punch the woman.

"Elias, stop!" shouted Queenie as he threw his punch, only for it to go through smoke and wind. Looking confused, he became more muddled when the scenery changed around them to the familiar dark abyss he had fallen through when he went to the past. Thankfully, he, Queenie, and August weren't falling as they were standing on some invisible floor. They all turned to see Theresa just standing before them before speaking. "The time for your journey has begun, young boy."

"My… journey…?"

She nodded as she held out her hand. Knowing full well what she wanted him to do; he shook his head and said, "Why should I even take your advice anymore? I know full well the ending of this story."

"I know you do," she spoke. "You know the ending of her story, but not of yours nor of your friends."

Rook let out a sigh of satisfaction as he finished eating a bowl of soup with cooked bread. As he began praising his master's cooking, Allen and Anthony sat in the upper floor where the study room was laid out. Random colored liquids were placed in beakers and vials as some were placed over a controlled fire. Many books were piled or discarded across the floor, desktops, and shelves. It looked exactly like the way it was when Anthony had come one time to visit Rook as he started to clean up the tower.

They were never invited for lunch, but they didn't want to intrude so they waited upstairs for Rook. Anthony then took this moment to fully ask, "What happened back there? You said you never did speak to Hannah when you first met."

Allen stared up at him and replied, "I was… I had… Okay… I lived a really complicated life. My family was killed during a raid on a town long ago and I wandered around Albion for a couple of years. Then, when I heard Lucien was recruiting people, I had the stupid idea that I could help people by working for the lord of the kingdom."

"You make it sound like you aren't from around here," Anthony interjected.

"It's because I was born in Aurora, dip shit," Allen spoke uninterestedly, ignoring the angered look and the threatening fist from the blonde male. He continued, "I joined the Spire Guards, and no, I wasn't a rape ninja, Anthony." The blonde closed his mouth before making the statement, slightly shocked that the other teenager remembered what he used to call the men in dark clothing and masks.

"It wasn't that serious at first as there were first many people who volunteered to help build the Spire. It wasn't until a couple years later that I was starting to do some… dirty things… I had… well; let's just say that I was quite surprised that I wasn't burning in the pits of some sort of hell for what I have done."

He chuckled quietly.

"I then decided to escape their services and thankfully, I didn't make myself known so I was able to disappear here in Albion. With that, I decided to train myself in the ways of my clan, only I had to somehow learn from people who are dead. That's when I started to bring my family back to life to teach me."

"But in a sense, you killed that girl… was she your sister?"

Allen paused before nodding his head slowly. "She was the last I had to… win against before I could even consider myself worthy."

"So you had to kill her corpse?"

"Are you going to interrupt every time I make a small pause?" Allen snapped at him with anger before calming himself. Seeing that the blonde wasn't going to speak any further, he continued, "Yes, I had to kill her, but I didn't think much into it at the time since I was used to killing people and… I wasn't that really close to my family." Although those words meant he didn't care, the way he said it made it sound completely different. Before he could question more, they heard rapid footsteps as Rook ran up the stairs and joined them. "Hey there, my mysterious friends!" he greeted once again, easily disturbing Anthony as he sat on an empty chair to begin working. They watched silently as the young man worked eagerly with the potions and magic, showing an enthusiasm that Anthony never sees in the Rook they have come to know. An hour flew by as Rook let out a triumphant sigh and said, "I think I almost got it…"

"What are you working on, anyways?"

The mage apprentice turned to them with confusion written all over his face. "Don't you remember? I'm trying to get rid of you guys," he spoke in a reminding tone, making the two other males to gawk at him in shock. Anthony glanced at Allen who had the same question in his eyes.

_Why is he getting rid of us since we just got here?_

"Teach isn't going to let me go any further until I find a way to deal with you," he began to explain. "I think it's some sort of test of using magic, so I found this nifty spell in a book I found while at Bowerstone." He continued to smile, ignoring the frightened looks on their faces. "You don't have to worry about dying. The spell said it will be able to give you your own bodies, so I'm sure we can still be friends."

"Don't do it."

The three turned to see someone standing on the balcony, looking rather pissed off as the Rook the two boys knew blurted out, "I can't believe I was so ignorant back then. This scene is making me sick." The blonde teenager glanced at the two Rooks, obviously becoming confused by why there were two of them, but both were actin quite different. "What… **What the hell is going on?**" he shouted while Allen just stared with a gawking mouth. As Anthony stood like a complete idiot, Rook stood to measure up with his naive counter-part and said, "This is going to be the worst thing you've ever done. Trust me, kid…"

"Shut up! You don't know me! You're just probably another personality I created!" simple Rook shouted at the blunt one. "See? See how easily you guys come to in my head? I have to do this in order to become the greatest Will user ever! I have to show Teach that I can help him in whatever is bothering him!"

The blonde and the ninja looked at each other as they then turned to see their Rook just watching his past counter-part doing the spell. They saw him lower his head in what seemed to be in shame as he said, "This is pointless… what is the bloody use of reasoning with yourself if you don't want listen?"

Suddenly, the scenery around them morphed to the bridge. "Hey, what's going on?"

A loud scream of pain came from the tower, sounding just like Rook's as the mage looked obvious annoyed by this. "Why can't we just leave this? I don't need to relive such a meaningless event," he stated. He had his hands in his coat jacket as he hunched his shoulders, trying to ignore the screams of pain coming from his counter-part.

"Maybe because you were supposed to accept what happened," Allen suddenly spoke. Rook turned to him as the ninja continued, "You probably didn't want to see yourself do the same mistake because you didn't want to be reminded that you probably failed Garth."

Rook looked shocked at him as he suddenly heard Garth's voice shouting from the tower, screaming his name and desperately asking if he was alright. He hadn't remembered hearing those words, most likely because he was in such pain at the time. Letting out a small smile, he said, "The stupid spell was a soul-ripping spell, not a personality one. Garth was barely able to recapture a part of my soul before it faded into the Afterlife." Clenching his chest where his hear was, he then added, "I thought he was deeply angered by what I did… so I left and did my best to not keep in contact with him. It was hard to show that I was worried about his opinion of me when you can't even show that emotion."

He then quickly added while glaring at the two men, "And no, I'm not gay for him. I just want his approval of my Will powers and acknowledge me as the next Will user of Albion." Anthony gave him a knowing nod while Allen just waved his hands, stating that he wasn't thinking that at all. Anthony then added, "But you've been able to have some emotion. I mean... remember laughing at what… sigh… what happened to me back near the docks of Bloodstone?" Upon hearing this, Rook nearly smiled a bit as he patted the book that was on his side.

It was at that moment, they all were suddenly jerked back into the scenery of the cabin as Enstranz entered into through the door, holding a plastic bag filled with milk. The blindfolded man looked up at them and groaned, "Great… I have to deal with you fuckers again. Can't you go into another God's cabin?"

Rook stared at him with confusion that rarely shown on his face as he turned to his comrades and asked, "Who the fuck is that?"

"_My_ story?" Elias asked in obvious confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"Do you ever wonder how you received your dark powers from the book so easily, with just an utter of simple words?" Theresa suggested. The Mexican looked to the side as he saw Queenie and August looking slightly disturbed by their surroundings. He then returned his gaze back on to the elderly woman and said, "Sure, but I really don't care now. It doesn't matter… since I doubt that I even have that power now."

"You've always had that power in you, young man."

Turning to look at her with skepticism, Elias listened to Theresa continue.

"In the past, you ancestors were both a Hero and a dark being. As they forged a bloodline, your family has grown up with the power of the darkness." She then motioned to the surroundings of them, seeing that most of the black swirls were mostly inching towards him. "Your parents have no knowledge of this as the knowledge was made forgotten by Sparrow herself."

"Say what, now?" August spoke aloud, catching their attention. "You're telling me that Ginger here is some sort of 'Hero' you call it and he is also some kid who can control the darkness?"

When she received a simple nod from the elderly woman, August turned to Queenie and said, "This sounds like something from your Kingdom Hearts fan fics." Ignoring the statement of her not writing them, Elias returned her attention to Theresa and said, "What's so significant about this? Why tell me this now?"

"Because only you will be the one who will help shape a country against the deadliest threat it will ever know," he bluntly stated. "Only you can return order to the timeline, revive your forgotten friends and return everyone back to their rightful place in time."

Upon hearing this information, Elias merely just fell to his knees in shock. A weight he had only heard and read in fan stories of numerous genres was now on his shoulders, making him having a slight problem of standing up. It felt weird and also a bit disturbing. This really shouldn't be happening to him or anyone. He was a normal kid, right? He lived a normal life with a normal family and friends… no… his friends weren't normal. His friend, Lisa, is really a girl of a clan that is nearly extinct and has a guy who has a soul from Old Japan as a guardian. To add to that, she lives with a group of people who are like vampires, and thankfully, not the kind that are like Twilight.

Looking up at Theresa, his anger for her returned at full force, remembering everything she has done in order to gain just one thing in the end. It wasn't going to be a surprise that when he does this, she will still get what she wants in the end. Standing up slowly, he stood with his two friends at his side and said, "I'm ready to help, but I'm only doing this to save my friends, not to do what you say willingly." Theresa merely nodded her head as she slowly faded away. At the same time she was disappearing, a light was growing in the darkness, blinding the three teenagers as they heard the elderly woman's voice say:

_I will send you to where you will need to fight against the one who is keeping them. You must defeat him and then return to the Spire in order to finish one more fight._

After a long explanation and a quick trip of the cabin train, the three teenage boys found themselves in a path leading to a town. Part of the path was overlaid by some sort of bridge that was probably another way into town; a path that Anthony had only seen twice in his whole life. They were in Oakvale. They walked into the town as they saw children playing some sort of game of soccer as they kicked the ball to one another. The grown-ups were either conversing or doing their jobs as the sun shined brightly and warmly. Leading the group, Anthony soon came upon a house that was overlooking the shoreline, seeing a young but familiar female child sitting on the porch. She wore a dirty benet on her head as two indents appeared on the top. Her black short hair framed around her face as her eyes were covered by her bangs while she looked at the broken doll in her hands.

Feeling compelled by her sadness, the blonde walked to the girl and asked, "You okay? Is something wrong?" The girl didn't respond to him as she sniffed and wiped her face. Hearing footsteps from the house, Anthony looked up to see a beautiful young woman walk to kneel beside the girl and said, "What's wrong, honey?" She wiped her eyes as she held the doll close, replying, "The doll… the doll _Aniki_ gave me… Mitch ripped her arm…" Showing it to the woman, Anthony then noticed that they were completely ignoring them. As the woman reassured her that it can be fixed, he tried to get their attention from shouting to them and even waving at them. Before he got physical, he was violently pulled back by an force pull from Rook. Turning to glare at him, Rook pointed at the girl and asked, "Don't you fucking recognize her, asshole?"

Taken back by the outburst, Anthony turned to see that the girl was now looking up and staring at them, or more like staring past them. The familiar cat pupils in her eyes soon made him remember who she was; it was Lee. "Holy crap! She got super short," he exclaimed loudly, not seeing the face palm from Rook and Allen falling to the ground from the teenager's denseness. The comical moment was forcefully ended as a loud shriek echoed through the town, making everyone turn to look at the main square.

The three quickly ran there, and were shocked at what they saw.

Many shadowy ghost-like figures were flying through the town and the people, embedding themselves into man, woman, and child alike. They began to shake violently like one with a seizure before falling to the floor after the shadow left them, their bodies aged and eyes glowing red. Anthony saw three of them going towards a group of children, frozen in fear by the sight of it all. He tried to run to them and shouting at them to run, but Rook quickly grabbed him and held him back. "We can't do anything, remember?" he shook him, trying to pull him out of the idea of him being really there. "We aren't really here. This is just a memory, Anthony! We can't save them!"

Suddenly, a form passed through them as they turned to see a man running towards the town square from out of the gates. He wore peasant clothing, but what really caught their attention was the style of the hair. It looked rather plain but the way it was reminded them of someone. "No bloody, fucking way," Allen muttered slowly as the man turned to look around him, seeing the destruction of Oakvale. Anthony saw the face and nearly felt his jaw fall off.

It was Reaver.

They watched him place his hands together over his mouth in shock, seeing him mutter something, but the sound of screams and destructions made it inaudible for them. They then heard a woman scream out a name which Reaver reacted to, running towards the source which was the direction of the house they had seen young Lee in. Concern overcame the boys as they followed and saw that nearly all the shadows were almost consuming.

Anthony ignored and shrugged off Rook as he followed Reaver into the house, trying to avoid the shadows. He watched as Reaver called out, "**Madeline! Lee!** **Where are you?**" They then heard a scream as they went into the bedroom in the upper level. Once entering, Anthony nearly froze in fear at the sight of the woman being harshly possessed by the shadows, each leaving her body only to be harshly consumed by another. As she continued to be attack by the shadows, she laid against a wardrobe, wanting to keep it closed at all costs. Reaver then ran to her, pulling her into a protective hold as he tried his best to wave off the shadows. However, they didn't need to do so much as the last of the shadows left her body and out of the house, leaving them alone.

Looking towards them, the blonde watched as Reaver stared down at the woman, her faced aged beyond recognition and her eyes glowing red. "Madeline… oh Avo… what have I done?" he spoke sadly as the withered hand of the woman gently touched his face, smiling up at him as she said, "Take… her away… from here. Don't let her… see what has… happened to our home…" Anthony watched as the man kissed the elderly woman's hand before gently laying her on the wooden floor, bowing his head in mourning. However, the mourning was cut short when the sound of sobbing came from the wardrobe. Quickly opening it and moving the coats out of the way, there sat Lee hugging the doll close to chest as she sniffled and looked up at him. Her voice hitched a bit as she said his name, but for some reason, Anthony couldn't hear it.

The sound of running footsteps echoed through the house and was coming closer, causing Anthony to turn and get ready for a fight. He heard some hushed whispers, a few complaints, and a reassuring voice before he heard Reaver close the wardrobe. Looking at the door, Anthony saw that the scenery was changing from the bedroom to the familiar surroundings of the Shadow Court, but that didn't stop him from seeing who was running up the stairs.

_Wolf?_

They soon found themselves in the cabin, seeing Enstranz enter while holding what looked like a plastic bag. Upon seeing them, he sighed angrily and said, "Can't you poof into someone else's home?" He took another glance at the group, noticing that there was another with them but she was lying on the floor. The boys followed his gaze to look down at the unconscious and now up-to-age Lee. As she slowly stood up with the help of Rook and Allen, Anthony turned to Enstranz and said, "Okay, how the hell do we get out of here?" The man stared at him through his blindfold as he replied, "What? You think I know? From what I've seen, you should have been already gone from here since it seems you all just relived something from your past."

Anthony just gave him a look before Rook said, "Wait… what if he's right?"

Turning to look at his friend, Anthony asked, "What do you mean?"

"We've all experienced some turning point in our lives," Allen joined in the agreement with the mage. "Me with using my family as… well yeah… Rook and his emo problem…"

"I am not emo!" Rook shouted at him, getting a simple shrug from the ninja before he added. "And also with Lee's… wait… we only saw what Reaver did to your town. What the fuck was your turning point?" They saw her look down, as if her turning point was something of shame. She then looked at them as she said, "I gave up my memories in exchange for Reaver to be immortal."

The three men just stared at her with an incredulous look. They then heard Enstranz answer his question, "Apparently, the man does still have somewhat of a heart, though I doubt it is still there since you are still all here." Anthony nearly growled as he shouted, "Then why the bloody hell are we still here? Let's just get this done with so we can save the fucking world!"

"**Then strike me down already!**"

Anthony quickly turned around to see Shared, back when he first met him, run straight at him with a broadsword. The blonde quickly unsheathed his katana to parry against the attack, being pushed back by the force. He heard his comrades shout his name as he quickly regained his balance and stared in shock at Shared. He was about to speak words of relief when his own voice betrayed him, saying, "I told you already, Shared! I don't want to have anything to do with this stupid bandit crap anymore!" He saw the anger fuel inside Shared as the man charged at him and shouted, "Then prepare to be removed from our gang, _Nassir_!"

Without warning, Anthony felt himself froze as he saw that Shared had stabbed him. He looked down and saw that the sword was through him, but not in the sense he had expected. He slowly stepped back as he saw someone who looked like him, excluding the fact that he was wearing bandit attire and a red bandana around his head as he clutched the wound after Shared pulled out the sword. Anthony watched as he saw himself stagger backwards before laying against a tree for support. He saw the guilt in Shared's eyes as he said, "Brother… oh god… my little brother…I'm sorry…"

Anthony just watched as his doppelganger just looked up at him and gave him a smile. He then heard him say, "No, brother… I'm just happy…" Anthony watched as the man who was him slowly staggered from the tree and fell into the lake below, sinking to the bottom. Shared just stared in shock as Anthony watched the scene. As it faded back into the cabin, Anthony looked to Enstranz as he was now drinking tea and asked, "What the fuck just happened?"

"Either that was supposed to be a quick version of your ancestor's 'death' or the writers are being tired right now and will be ending this soon," Enstranz said randomly, getting confused looks from the four teenagers. Anthony just looked down at himself, staring at where the weapon had embedded as he lifted his jacket to see a large scar begin to appear. "What does this mean?" he muttered. It was loud enough to be heard since Enstranz replied, "You have taken possession of a dead body, white boy." The blonde stared widely at him before asking, "Then… how come we aren't alive? You said that we would be brought back to life if we experience the turning points of our lives."

Enstranz shrugged as he said, "How should I know? You'd think because of this being a remake of your silly game that you might have some epic boss battle happening soon… Won't be shocked if someone comes here, saying that they came here to rescue you guys…"

All of sudden, a light blinded them all followed by three heavy objects hitting the floor. Anthony looked to the source which was the far corner of the cabin. There lying in a dog pile were August, Queenie, and Elias, all three groaning in pain and fatigue. "What the? Where the fuck have you been, Elias?"

The teenager, clad his casual attire that he was wearing back in their present time, quickly stood up and helped the girls up before stalking towards Anthony and said, "Where the fuck _I've_ been? Where the fuck _you've _been? You practically don't exist in the future and neither do those guy's future lookalikes." He was about to rant more when he noticed that Enstranz was facing him intensely as he asked, "Um… can I help you?" All the man did was slowly smile evilly as he said, "So… you're Elias… that's your name?"

The freckled faced male teenager slowly nodded his head before he soon felt his gut going bad. He then saw Enstranz head to the middle before a pulse emitted from him, sending everyone except Elias to the far from the middle of the room. Shouting to his friends, Elias heard his name being called by Queenie. Turning out of instinct, he came face to face with Enstranz as the man said, "Time for me to take your role."

"**Say what?**"

Anthony looked up to see his friend and the Demi-God fall into a hole in the floor. He ran to it just as a glass replaced the whole floor, showing what looked like a large orbed arena below them. Elias landed hard while Enstranz landed gracefully, staring at the teenager rather boredly. "This is supposed to be the next Hero? How completely useless…" he said as he cracked his knuckles while stalking towards the staggering teenager. Back above, Anthony looked at Rook as he shouted, "Break the fucking glass!" The mage glared at him and said, "I would have done that if I could right now!"

"Um guys… anyone notice that there are now two guys that look like that Enstranz guy," Allen stated. The males looked down as they indeed saw that there wasn't just one but at least ten more doppelgangers of Enstranz. Each seemed to wear some sort of different colored bandana as they watched them converse. Anthony clenched his fist when he saw the main Enstranz kick the laying form of Elias. He felt a comforting hand on his shoulder as he turned to see August looking obviously scared. Queenie was far behind them as she asked, "Can we get him out of there?" The blonde shook his head helplessly as they watched Elias quickly stand up to avoid every punch thrown by the attacking doppelgangers.

Elias quickly dodged a twin roundhouse kick as he flipped backwards, bumping into an Enstranz who looked majorly bored than the usually one seemed to be like. He looked at him as the person whined pathetically and said, "Moe! I don't want to fight! It's boring!" He then harshly pushed Elias as he was thrown into two Enstranz, one laughing happily while another just looked majorly pissed. They had their arms up as they swung them at his neck, causing him to flip and land hard on the ground. He stared up to see they were now aiming their arm blades at him as he heard Enstranz shout out, "And now, with you soon to be gone, I shall become _the main character_ of this story!" Elias gawked at him and said, "What the fuck are you talking about?" However, he never got his answer as he saw the blades about to come down on him. Closing his eyes to await the inevitable, he heard metal clashing with each other and two yelps of pain that were accompanied with booming sounds. He also noted that he was now held closely to a chest, making him feel really awkward as he opened his eyes. He saw that there was an "Enstranz" with a pink blindfold holding him as he pointed his arm blade at the others.

"What the?" said the lead Enstranz as he glared at the pink blindfold wearer one. "I thought you were locked up tight and good."

"Oh… you should know that you can't lock someone up by yourself!" shouted the pink blindfold one as Elias soon felt himself pulled and pushed away, as if performing a dance with the man while he saw him slice at anyone that attacked them. He then found himself in the man's arms again, feeling a bit nauseous. He felt the stares from his friends and comrades up above and knew that Anthony was probably laughing his ass off. Taking a quick glance above, he saw that said teenage male and Allen were laughing their asses. He then saw that main Enstranz was greatly angered as he shouted, "**Kill him now!**"

The freckled teen soon noticed that the attacker was phasing as more copies of himself appeared behind him, obviously outnumbering them greatly. As he stared intently and shocked by this, he felt something land on his head and lay lazily on his shoulder; it was a rope from above. He saw that Allen and Anthony were holding the other end as Queenie and Lee were looking down at the new whole in the glass floor as the cat-eared female shouted, "Hurry! Get up here, you two!" Elias nodded as he began to climb up the rope. It was about twenty feet away from the hole when he felt that the rope was shaking violently. Looking down and past the savior Enstranz, the evil ones were shaking the rope violently as some tried to climb up to catch them.

_As we held that rope as best as we could, I noticed that the "good" Enstranz seemed to stare up at Elias sadly as he mouthed out a few words. He then lifted his arm blade as he sliced the rope above him, causing him to plummet down to the others and us to yank Elias the rest of the way up. I watched as the girls hugged him happily before they all glomped me happily, saying that they were happy that I was alive. I hesitantly hugged them before I felt something clenching inside my chest. _

_Holding it, I felt that everything was becoming a blur as my vision began to go black before I noticed that we were falling into the dark abyss that was familiar…_

_**Albion  
11 Years, Day 55**_

_It was quite odd to find this journal on my person, but I guess that if the great Avo has given me a chance to live, I will write it out so that if anyone finds this, they would know about the strange things that aren't written in books. It seems that I have taken the identity of one that was named Anthony, and he seems to have had the weird attitude I used to have back before I…_

_When I was awoken, I found myself and three others on the docks of Oakfield as I saw the Spire that apparently had grown greatly as it seemed to touch the sky. I decided to act the way the three had said I did, though I think that the mage, Rock I think his name is, knows that the one they have grown close to isn't here anymore. A bright light appeared near us as a dog and a woman, dressed rather casually with a hint of armor shown. She looked at me and I saw tears happily flow from her eyes as she shouted that boy's name again before hugging me. I had returned the hug slowly as she then turned to the others, showing her great happiness that we were here. She even relayed happily that the two who betrayed us were sent back to their own time as one of them had tried to help them escape, but in the end, their memories were erased of their time here. After much talk, the three had started to give their goodbyes._

_The ninja, Allen, said that he wanted to catch up with this woman named Hannah, claiming that she was the closest thing he has to family now and he must protect her. He had disappeared in a faze before he clasped my shoulder in a comrade way and said that he hoped to meet the man that looked like him one day._

_The mage, Rook, and the female maid, Lee, decided to head to Samarkand since their elders seem to be there now. Rook had given me a warning to not use whatever powers I have received recklessly, not that I care. Lee just gave her thanks and said that she would at least return back to Albion with her master once they did whatever their elders were doing there._

The blonde man watched them go on the ship as it sailed off, watching the girl wave goodbye to them while the mage just stared at the dock on which he stood. Turning to Sparrow, she said, "I guess… this is it for me." He looked at her weirdly as she then trudged off towards Oakfield as she said, "Should we head back to Bowerstone? I'm sure Shared and my husband are eagerly waiting for us." The man seemed to flinch at the mention of his brother's name, but he shook it off as he followed and stated, "You do know I'm not this man you have been traveling with for I guess more than ten years."

_I half expected her to throw that as some kind of joke from the man she knew, but it shocked me to see her turn to look at me sadly._

Sparrow tilted her head and asked, "What should I call you from now on?"

The blonde seemed hesitant at first before he sighed out and replied simply, "I am Nassir 'Antarah, brother to Shared 'Antarah." The woman nodded her head as she said, "So this is your true name… it's a good one." As she led and he followed, they traveled through Rookridge and back to Bowerstone as Nassir stared at the town before staring off towards the Spire.

_Reading through this journal, I realized that this man has given me a life that I could appreciate and not waste. I will live my life as this woman's Keeper and protect her and her family from any harm. That is the vow that was left on a little note in this journal and I will pay tribute to this man's determination. If I ever do get to meet this man who had possessed me for so long, I wish to thank you for giving me a purpose; one that wasn't just playing bandits who were good and giving money to the poor who are later killed._

_I thank you, Anthony. I hope that where ever you are, you will find a peace from this chaos, although as I write these words, I fear that your peace will only last for so long._

In the present, Anthony sat on the chairs in the small restaurant that he and his friends hung out after school. Although he relayed to his friends about it, none of them believed it. It seems that only he and Elias remember the events as Marcos and Jonnathan had no recollection of the events, claiming that they had left Elias alone to go to his house. Queenie and August had no memories of their short trip into the dark abyss between time. It soon came to a point where they just decided to keep quiet about it, knowing that the more they try to convince them, the more they would received a beat down from the women of the group.

The blonde teenager just stared off into the distance outside as the sun was high in the sky, illuminating the area. Sighing, he decided that he would play the game with everything he had experienced; wanting to at least live with the morals that he had grown with during his time there. And he hoped that at least his decisions would affect any sequels that Lionhead Studios were going to come up with.

**The End…**


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